Crescendo
by PrimaPiranha
Summary: Annabeth Chase likes to take her education seriously, but Percy Jackson and his friends are always making a racket in one of the lower dorms at their high school. When Annabeth goes down to complain one day, she meets the troublemaker for the first time, and after that, her love life makes a crescendo that won't go down for a long time. AU.
1. Centuries

Annabeth

I watched the flakes of snow falling quietly outside the window, my pencil scratching at my math homework. The last period of the day had just ended, and I was trying to do my math homework in my dorm.

I was on a composite figure problem, and was trying to calculate the volume of a sphere. But the snowflakes outside seemed much more appealing.

Suddenly, I heard loud music coming from one of the lower floors.

_Some legends are told, some turn to dust or to gold..._

I squinted at my work, trying to ignore the music. I had to finish this. But the music was so loud, it made my ears throb.

_But you will remember me..._

Grr...4/3π…

_Remember me for centuries…._

I clenched my fists around my pencil.

_And just one mistake…_

4/3π times r squared….

_Is all it will take…_

No, wait, it was r _cubed_…

_We'll go down in history…_

With the diameter as ten…

_Remember me, for centuries…_

And the radius as five…

_Hey, hey, hey,_...

The lead of my pencil broke.

_Remember me, for centuries…_

I stood up angrily. Those stupid idiots downstairs, bothering everyone in the whole freaking building by creating an earthquake with their stupid centuries song.

I opened the door of my room and headed out to the stairs. I was going to bust these punks. How was it that a _song_ was stopping me from calculating the volume of a sphere?!

At the foot of the stairs, I turned down the corridor towards the door where the music was coming from.

Without a moment's hesitation, I knocked on the door.

No response, except for the insanely loud music.

I banged on it harder.

"It's open!" A voice yelled from inside, somehow above the music.

I kicked the door open, just to come face-to-face with complete mayhem.

It was the messiest dorm ever. The bunks were undone, clothes were in heaps on the floor, papers were scattered everywhere, and a large stereo/recording system was set in the very center, blasting out music.

Five boys were also inside, jamming to the music.

Spotting the stereo's wire connected to an outlet near the door, I yanked it out.

The music abruptly stopped.

"Awww!" They all said, finally turning to look at me.

One of them snorted. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I'm here to inform you that your music is causing an earthquake. Can't you keep it down?"

"Um, I'm here to inform _you_, scholar girl," another guy said, "That you forgot your glasses upstairs. Can't you see we're busy?"

"Busy doing what? Wrecking the building with your awful music?"

"It's not awful," yet another guy said. "It's Centuries. It's a good jam."

"Um, well, I think you should leave the singing about 'hundreds of years' to Christina Perri."

The rest of the boys let out an "Oooooohhhhh".

"Just get out of here. We're not going to turn it down. And turn it down for what? Some stupid girl."

Some of the other boys started singing 'Turn Down for What'.

I groaned.

"We'll turn it down," a different guy who hadn't spoke yet finally piped up, his voice rising over the others' singing.

He had rumpled black hair and sea green eyes.

"Really?" Me and the rest of the boys said at the same time.

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "If it bothers you."

The rest of the boys stared at him in disbelief, while I let out a sigh. "Thanks."

Then I turned on my heel and walked out the door.

As I walked back up the stairs, I heard the Centuries song start back up again. It was still loud, but not as loud as it was before.

**A/N: If you liked this first chapter, be sure to review! Thanks! Bie!**


	2. Music & Malfunctions

The next day, after class, I slung my heavy bag down after entering my dorm. We had gotten _so_ much homework. I would be staying up until at least midnight to get it all done.

So without wasting any time, I pulled out my homework and a pencil and got to work.

When I heard the music again, though, I glared at the essay question menacingly.

_Am I wrong, for thinking out the box from where I stay?_

I jumped out of my seat and stomped towards the door, throwing my pencil down.

_Am I wrong, for saying that I choose another way? _

Down the stairs I went, then down the corridor, and to the same door as yesterday.

I didn't bother to knock as I barged in.

The moment one of the boys spotted me, they turned off the music.

"Aw, here to ruin our fun again, scholar girl?"

"No, I'm here to tell you to shut up or get up and out. I can't concentrate with your racket."

"But it's a good jam! Like we told you yesterday!"

"No, it's way too loud, and this time, you _are_ wrong for choosing another way. Sorry Nico and Vinz, but turn. It. Down."

"Fine, fine," one of them muttered.

As I nodded and turned to leave, I glanced at the guy who had consented the day before.

He winked at me.

I frowned back.

* * *

After that, I thought they would learn their lesson and keep it down.

But boy, was I wrong.

The same day, when I was trying to sleep, I heard their music turn up again.

_I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones_

_Enough to make my systems blow, _

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age,_

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age…_

Muttering a curse, I pulled away my blankets, pulled on a jacket, and headed down again.

It wasn't hard to find their door in the dark, because of the _RADIOACTIVE_ booming out of it.

I kicked it open. They all turned to look at me.

But they didn't give in so easily.

"Get out of here!" One guy yelled over the noise.

"Not until you shut up!"

"NEVER!" Three of them yelled at the same time.

I felt my face flush red. We kept yelling at each other for a few minutes, with radioactive as our background music, until I held up my foot threateningly near the stereo.

And then, as if on cue, the stereo stuttered and died.

"What the heck did you do!" One of them yelled.

"Nothing," I said, frowning. "It turned off by itself."

"And you expect us to believe that?! And I thought you were smart!"

"Lay off her, guys," the guy with the greenish eyes said.

I bent down to examine the stereo. There was a panel at the back, which I opened. All the while, four of the guys were constantly yelling at me.

"-all your fault-"

"-so ridiculous-"

"-just ignore it-"

I found some wires and outlets inside, and started to rearrange them.

The green-eyed guy came up to me and squatted down next to me as I fiddled with the wires.

"What're you doing?"

"What-does-it-look-like?"

He leaned closer to the inside of the panel. "Trying to fix it?"

I noticed for half of a second how close the side of his face was to mine, before I fit the wire in the right place and the song started up again.

_I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones…_

The other boys stared in awe.

I closed the panel and turned the volume dial slightly to the left. Then I stood up and turned to leave, when the guy put a hand on my shoulder.

I turned back to him and he stuck out his hand. "Percy Jackson."

I took only a moment's hesitation before shaking it. "Annabeth Chase."

He smiled. "Good night."

"You too."

Then I turned and left.

**A/N: If you liked that chapter, be sure to review! The next chapter will be the start of Percabeth, so be sure to follow this story if you want more!**

**And if you want a shoutout in the next chapter, answer this question:**

**What was the last name of Zoe, daughter of Atlas from the Titan's Curse?**

**Again, be sure to review if you liked this chapter and/or if you want a shoutout! Thanks! Bie!**


	3. Coffee

**A/N: Shoutouts go to:**

**BlazeRodAtaraxy**

**ChryssieCullen**

**vanillabean990**

Annabeth

The chatter of people around me barely seemed to matter as I typed on my laptop.

I was trying to get some homework done, but today I was in small coffee shop, sitting at a table in the corner with my laptop. The inside of the coffee shop was warm compared to the snow falling outside.

I finished typing another paragraph of my essay, then looked up.

People looked so happy, laughing together, drinking smoothies and coffee. Not worrying about homework.

They'd have to do it sometime.

I kept staring at the people come and go, before I noticed someone familiar.

Percy was standing near the counter, holding two cups of coffee. When he noticed me, he held up one of the cups of coffee.

I rolled my eyes and beckoned him over, pushing away my laptop.

He walked over and put the coffee on the table, pulling out a chair next to me.

"Hey, Annabeth. What's up?"

"Nothing really. I'm trying to get some homework done."

He laughed. "Really? During break?"

"Yes. I really have nothing better to do."

"Really?"

"Really."

I took a sip of my coffee and let it warm me up. Percy did the same.

"So. I take it you're not a fan of loud music?" He said.

"It's not the music, it's the volume. I get headaches. Other people probably get bothered too."

"I guess. We might get carried away sometimes."

"That's probably why I have to come down and remind you every day."

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

He took another sip of his coffee. "You know, you should listen to music while you work. It helps."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Don't think I don't get any work done when our music is blasting."

I laughed. "I guess I never really thought about that."

We sat in silence for a few moments, before Percy said something that surprised me.

"Your eyes are very pretty."

I blinked. "Thank you. Your eyes are...cool...too."

He grinned. "Thanks."

More and more people started entering the coffee shop, and soon, Percy and I decided to go out for a walk. Putting away my laptop, I grabbed my coffee and walked out with him.

We strolled through the snow, and outside, everything was quiet as snowflakes fell from the sky.

The first time I had ever had such a long talk with somebody had to be today. Percy found a way to keep the conversation going, and every time he complimented me, I got this weird fluttery feeling inside.

Stupid stomach.

And as we got to the building and parted ways, I found myself thinking of him.

What a nice friend.

**A/N: If you liked that chapter, please review! The next chapter is going to be one of my absolute favorites (more Percabeth duh) so be sure to watch for that!**

**Aaand if you want a shoutout in the next chapter, please leave this sentence in your review:**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINJA NOODLE**

**and/or**

**GOOD LUCK NINJA NOODLE **

**Because it was recently my best friend's birthday, and she's going to a competition. So please, please, please support her!**

**Anyway, that's it until the next chapter! Bie! **


	4. A Dance With a Friend

**A/N: Shoutouts go to:**

**C****hryssie Cullen**

**Fallen Panther**

**Gwen**

Annabeth

Friday after school, I was happy.

I had barely any homework to do, and, well, it was Friday.

I usually finished my homework as fast as possible, so I would have the weekend free, so after settling down with a snack, I pulled out my science homework and got ready to draw a diagram.

About five minutes in, I heard it.

_I really wanna love somebody…_

_I really wanna dance the night away_

I sprang out of my seat, pulled on my shoes, and raced out the door. Down the stairs, and to the now familiar door I went.

I was bracing myself to be yelled at by many boys, but instead, only Percy was in the room. He grinned as I walked in.

"Hey, Wise Girl!" He said, loudly, over the music.

"Who's that?"

"You!"

"Oh. Thanks?"

"Wanna dance?"

"What?!"

"I said, wanna dance?"

"Um, well, I don't really know-"

"It's not that hard! Here, I'll show you…"

After a few moments of shifting hands, we had gotten in the standard dancing position.

And then, we started to dance.

_I really wanna love somebody…_

_I really wanna dance the night away…_

We danced across the floor, which I just now realized was clean, and both of us were grinning the whole time. He spun me around, and basically performed every single move of partner dancing there was.

And, truth to be told, I actually had fun.

I had never really considered much more than education-and Percy and his friends had always seemed abnormal to me. They were such troublemakers-how could anyone lead that kind of life?

But I was slowly starting to realize that there were many more important things in life than just grades.

I just needed help finding them.

And I think I had found just the person to help me.

That night, after dinner, I was making my way up to the dorms, yawning. I was immensely tired. This week had been stressful.

But as I reached a flight of steps, something made my feet falter.

I turned my head to see the light in Percy's room on.

Slowly, not sure what I was doing, I walked to his door and opened it.

He was sitting by the window.

"Hi," I said.

He turned. "Oh. Hi, Wise Girl."

I walked up and sat by him near the window. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He muttered.

"Come on, what's wrong?"

He sighed. "Fine. If you really want to know, the principal told me I would get expelled if I didn't perform better in school."

"Oh."

"It's just...I have difficulty sometimes. And math just...isn't where my heart is. I love music. Not multiplication."

"Okay. Then why don't we do this? I'll help you out with homework, and you can listen to music while we do it."

He smiled. "Really?"

"Really."

"Thanks, Wise Girl." He wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

I tensed for a moment.

He immediately moved his arm. "Sorry, I-"

"No, that's fine," I said.

He sighed. "It's been so hard for me, you know. It's not easy being me."

"Welcome to my world."

He looked at me. "You? But..."

"It's not as easy as it looks. I moved here, leaving all my friends behind. I've had to work out the stress and the homework and the lack of friends."

"I'll be your friend."

"Gee, thanks."

"I mean it! And what's so bad about having the handsomest boy in the world as your friend?"

I shoved him with a laugh.

After a few more minutes of conversation, I said good night and was going out the door, when Percy cleared his throat and said-

"Hey, um, since tomorrow's Saturday, and since you're now my friend, do you wanna, er, come to the mall with me tomorrow?"

I smiled at the door. "Sure."

I walked out the door feeling better than I had in a long time.

**A/N: Review if you enjoyed! Bie! **


	5. In The Moment

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in...hmm...well...let's see...FOREVER!**

**I don't have a regular update schedule, but I try to post a chapter at least once or twice every week. **

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I truly appreciate the support. **

Annabeth

I never really spent time at the mall, mostly because I had nothing to do there. But with Percy, everything seemed infinitely more fun.

We started out at the food court, buying milkshakes. Percy's for some reason was blue.

We took a seat at one of the tables, sitting across from each other.

"So," Percy said. "How's your day been so far?"

I laughed. "It's only just started."

He took a sip of his blue shake. "You look very pretty."

"Why, thank you, kind sir."

"I mean it. How lucky I was to turn up my music so loud and find you."

I blushed. "Your friend's didn't seem to feel the same way."

"Ah, they'll come around."

After eating we went to the arcade, and after a furiously intense game of laser tag, we decided to just go for a walk around the mall and do some window shopping.

"You know," Percy said, "I heard we'd be getting some new students on Monday. They're transfers from some music school."

"Oh? Then I guess you will have some new friends."

"Yeah, apparently they're advertising some amazing music program from across the country, and they're having some audition kind of thing."

"Interesting. Too bad I was never interested in music that much."

"Well, you don't necessarily have to play an instrument, like me and the guys do. You could just sing."

"You play an instrument?"

"Yeah, I can play some mean percussion. But that's not the point-you should try getting into music. It's pretty awesome."

After walking around a bit, laughing, and having fun, we decided it might be time to leave, especially with the thought of the pile of homework we had sitting at home.

So, we parted ways.

* * *

The next day, Sunday, was one of the best days of my life.

It started out with me complaining to Percy about his music being too loud (again) and we ended up dancing to "The Time of our Lives," by Pitbull or something. And while we were dancing, some of his friends came in. I actually got to know them a little bit better. They weren't as mean as they seemed. In the end, we headed back to the mall for ice cream and drinks.

By 'drinks', I thought they meant like coffee and stuff, but apparently they meant alcohol.

"C'mon, it's not against the law, you're of age," one of Percy's friends persisted when we arrived at the cafe. "Just try it."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

They cheered as I put the bottle to my lips and sipped the contents. The next second, I had spit it all out onto the pavement.

"Awful!" I said, spitting some more. "How can you _drink_ that?!"

They all just laughed, and after I tried sipping it some more, it actually tasted good.

We stayed there for what felt like a long time after the mall had closed, but I didn't care. I felt happier than ever. I was having more fun than education could ever give me.

I think Percy had helped me find the variety of life I was looking for.

When we had drained the contents of our bottles and thrown away our empty tubs of ice cream, we started down the street.

Percy, who looked high, grinned at me. "Annabeth, this has been fun."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"I think I'm falling in love."

"Oh? And with whom?"

"You. Duh. There's no one else here."

"Well, there's your friends."

He laughed and shoved me. "Seriously, though, I think I'm in love with you."

"You know what? Me too."

And when we kissed, I heard a great "Oooooooh!" from his friends.

After that, I knew I wouldn't be complaining about his music anymore.

**A/N: So I'm going to try and finish Greek Fire and Winds of Change as fast as humanly possible, so this story may not come out as fast, but I promise you, I have plenty of exciting things planned. For example, a certain red-haired character comes into play in the next chapter…**

**So until then, let's boost up those reviews, shall we? **

**Bie!**


	6. The Princess of PUNK

**A/N: I have a few very important announcements to make. **

**First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY A.P.! I hope you have a great b-day! Thanks for being an active reader of Crescendo! I don't know why there are a bunch of exclamation points here! Anyway, hereis my gift to you!**

**Also, I've finally posted the story I've been wanting to post for a long time now. It's called **_**My Heart Beats Only For You**_**, and you should totally check it out and review it and other stuff. **

**And then after that, I feel like starting some Harry Potter. Any suggestions…? Yes or no will be fine, because I have plenty of ideas already. **

**But I'm not going to sit here and blab! On with the story!**

Annabeth

When I woke up Monday morning, I was trapped inside a mix of emotions.

What the Hades had happened last night? Percy had kissed me and said he was falling in love with me.

Wow.

But the thing I was confused about was whether he truly had feelings for me or whether he was just drunk yesterday.

So, wanting to get my answers, I got ready for school as fast as possible and headed to the front doors.

It was a pretty chilly morning, and snow still covered the grounds. I wished I had worn more layers, because every time a cold breeze blew past, I shivered.

So there I was, standing with some other students, outside the main door, shivering like some idiot, when a warm hand laced its fingers up with mine.

I turned to see Percy standing by me.

All he did was smile.

Which pretty much answered my questions. No, he didn't kiss me just because he was high.

It felt good to have Percy as a- it felt weird using the term- boyfriend.

When the front doors finally opened, we headed inside and got to our lockers. I put away my bag and pulled out only my needed books. When I shut my locker and turned around, I saw Percy again.

"Hey," he said, ruffling the back of his hair. "So I suppose we should talk about last night, and I feel like I should make this quick. You're a great person, Annabeth, and I'm glad to be your friend, if not more. I wasn't drunk yesterday, if that's what you were thinking. So...I mean...friend to girlfriend?"

I smiled at him. "Thanks. And friend to boyfriend."

Then the bell rang, and we headed our separate ways.

Throughout my first few periods, it was extremely hard for me to concentrate. Maybe it was the thought of Percy's goofy grin and sea-green eyes, or maybe it was the daydream of us dancing to another song together, or maybe it was the flashback of us kissing. I don't know.

But Percy was the only thing on my mind as our math teacher droned on and on and on about who cared what?

As I made my way to my locker for lunch, I felt was the first time I had ever had anything closer than a close friend.

AKA, a boyfriend.

So I walked into the cafeteria, my eyes already squinting around to look for the familiar mess of dark hair, and when I found it, I made a beeline in that direction.

But when I took a seat across from Percy, I saw another person was sitting next to him.

Everything about her screamed _rebel!_ She had violently curly red hair, wore a black shirt with the name of some band on it, a black leather jacket on top of that, along with black pants and combat boots.

She was like the Princess of Punk.

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy smiled. "Meet Rachel Dare-she's one of the new students I was talking to you about the other day."

"Hi," I said with an uncomfortable wave. It looked like Rachel was smiling, but to me it seemed more like an ugly grimace, paired up perfectly with a death stare.

"Rachel loves music, just like yours truly, so I thought what better way than to discuss it and practice it with her?" Percy grinned.

And then I took in how close Rachel was sitting next to Percy. It wasn't like a We're-just-friends seat, it was more like a I-wish-no-one-else-was-here seat.

I cringed.

Rachel put an arm around Percy's shoulder. "You bet I do. Being new here, it's great to make new friends. You're so nice, Percy."

"Why thank you," he winked at her.

An emotion started stabbing at my heart, and I tried to ignore it, but in the end, I recognized it as jealousy.

_Yeah, go ahead guys, keep on talking like you're a couple, because Percy's girlfriend is totally not sitting right across from you._

I wanted to reach over the table and slap them both as Percy made a joke and Rachel laughed, messing with his hair.

And as I stood up to throw away my trash, the worst possible thing that could've happened, happened.

"You want to get some coffee later?" Rachel asked him.

"Sure," Percy said. "Hey Annabeth, want to join us?"

I was about to turn towards him to decline, with the excuse that I had too much homework, when I saw Rachel's face.

Her eyebrows were furrowed at me, her eyes boring holes into my head, her nose wrinkled in disgust as her mouth sneered at me in the worst way possible.

It was like she was trying to imitate Medusa.

"N-no, I'm fine," I said, and Rachel's face looked satisfied.

"Oh." Percy said. "Okay."

As Percy walked away, Rachel came up to me. "So, Annabeth, are you friends with Percy?"

"He's my boyfriend, actually."

"Oh. Well. I guess he gets drunk a lot, especially around _you, _because that was so obviously a _lie_-"

"Hey, Rachel! Look, I have to show you something!" Percy called Rachel

So with a smirk, she turned on her heel and headed to where Percy standing in the hallway.

Was this normal? Was jealousy normal?

I didn't think so.

So after school that day, when I headed to my dorm, I decided to call one of my best friends.

Thalia Grace.

Compared to Rachel, Thalia was definitely the Princess of Punk more than she was.

"Hello?" Came her voice from the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Thalia!"

"Annabeth! What's up?"

I told her my dilemma with Percy and Rachel.

"Ooh, that's not good. Just give her a good fist up the nose, that'll settle it."

"But I can't! Percy will hate me!"

"Hmm. Maybe you need to find another guy."

"How? Percy was perfect. And I don't want him to think I'm a player."

"But if _he's _a player, what difference will it make?"

"I don't know...I guess I'll have to think about it."

"Mm. Okay. Well, I have to go, but I'll talk with you later."

"Kay. Bye."

And with that, we hung up.

I sighed and busied myself with my homework, trying to find a distraction.

And when Percy's loud music started up again, I didn't bother going down.

**A/N: Nooooo! Rachel Dare noooooo! **

**Oh well. Next chapter, Annabeth will meet a certain blond-haired guy...**

**Review! Biiie! **


	7. The Volcano Has Erupted!

Annabeth

I didn't feel like getting out of bed the next day. I just didn't want to face Rachel and her Medusa stare.

But, nonetheless, I got to my first period without much harm. Neither Percy not Rachel were in my first three periods.

But during lunch, Percy expected me to sit with him. So, sighing, I made my way over to their table.

I had to sit by Rachel, with Percy across from us.

"So I was just talking to Rachel about the Kentucky Music Program," Percy said when I sat down. "And how they're going to select a few students to go with them to start a band."

"That's great," I said unenthusiastically. **A/N: I don't think that's a word...**

"And," Rachel continued, "We were just thinking of how great our chances are for getting in."

"Well, we both do love music," Percy said. He grinned at me. "But I know you don't like the high volume. We'll be sure that we turn it down."

"Are there auditions or something?" I asked, feigning interest.

"Yeah, actually. Me and Percy are going to practice today." Rachel took a bite of her lunch.

"Stellar," I muttered.

After lunch, I wanted to get away as fast as possible, so I didn't have to endure any more torture. But the problem was that Percy and Rachel were in some of my classes.

They partnered up together during English, during which I saw Rachel kiss Percy on the cheek, and Percy put his arm around her.

My eye ticked as I broke my pencil on my essay.

And even worse: when school ended that day, I saw Percy and Rachel walking down the hall together, talking and laughing like they were old friends. It might have just been a trick of the light, but I swore I saw Rachel hug Percy at the end of the hall.

I decided not to follow them anymore and just head to my dorm. I was _so_ done.

I turned around, just to bump into some random guy.

"Sorry," I said coldly, bending down to pick up my stuff.

"It's okay." The guy bent down, helping me pick up my stuff. I noticed he had blond hair and blue eyes, and was quite handsome.

When he had handed me back all of my books, he stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"Luke Castellan."

**A/N: So sorry for the short update! I just couldn't find a way to make this chapter any longer. And the next chapter is probably going to be just as short. Come at me with your pitchforks! **

**Anyway, thanks so much for all of the reviews and support ya'll have given me. Please keep the reviews coming, I would love to have more than 40 by the end of the story! **

**Thanks! Bie! **


	8. The Date (No not the fruit)

**A/N: **

**Once upon a time **

**A few mistakes ago**

**I was in your sights, you got me alone**

**You found me, you found me, you found me**

**I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that**

**And when I fell hard you took a step back**

**Without me, without me, without me**

**sniffle sniffle Percy and Annabeth much? sniffle sniffle**

Annabeth

Luke turned out to be a very nice person.

After we became friends, he did everything a caring friend would do. He came up to my dorm after school sometimes to study for tests and hang out. He walked with me in the hallways and even joined me in the library for lunch. He was very kind and funny, and also pretty smart.

And after a while, we started dating.

I mean, Percy had his time occupied with Rachel, how bad could it be if I had my time occupied too?

One night, he had taken me out to a restaurant a few blocks down from school. And what could I say? It was pretty fun…...

"So, how was your week?" Luke asked me, taking a sip of water.

"Good, I guess. Except for the fact that exams are coming up."

"It's fine. You'll probably pass with flying colors." Luke smiled at me.

I sighed, taking a sip of water. "Yeah. Hopefully."

The waitress came up to us and we ordered an appetizer. When she left, Luke put his arm around my shoulders.

"Tonight is a good night. I feel happy."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just in a good mood."

"Me too...I guess?"

He laughed. "So...have you heard about the Kentucky Music Program?"

I stiffened, thinking of Percy. "Yes. Why?"

"Auditions are tomorrow, and results will come out on Friday. Do you know anyone who's entering?"

"No." I lied.

"Huh. Well, a few of my friends are entering, with some Jackson guy. I think they have a good shot at getting in."

"I bet they do." I tried to change the subject. "So, what d'you-"

But I froze.

Because I had just spotted a mass of curly red hair at the opposite side of the restaurant.

Rachel was sitting next to Percy, and they were talking and laughing like old friends.

I averted my eyes immediately.

"Hey?" Luke asked. "Something wrong?"

"N-no. So anyway, what d'you think of music?"

"I like listening to it, it helps me relax sometimes. But I was never really talented at it, so I never entered the Music Program."

"What do you think happens to the people who make it in?" I found myself asking.

"I think they get to go to Kentucky for a year or two, and then I don't know. They may come back before high school ends or they may stay in Kentucky. Other than that, I have no idea."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Percy and Rachel sipping a drink from the same glass together.

I immediately stood up. "Luke, I don't feel so well."

He stood up too. "Oh, okay. You seemed kind of weird today. Do you want me to drive you back?"

"Um, yeah, that'll be great. Sorry."

"No, it's fine. C'mon, let's go…"

He seemed to have noticed Percy and Rachel too. At least he didn't know what was between me and Percy.

He steered me out the door and I felt grateful for the fresh night air.

**A/N: Sooo….how did you like that chapter? I know, I know, you hated it because Annabeth and Luke got together… **

**But trust me, the next chapter will be one of your favorites. Trust me on that. **

**And if YOU want a shoutout in the next chapter, just let me know what song the lyrics in the above A/N were from. **

**I'll see you guys in the next chapter! Bie!**


	9. Such a Seaweed Brain

**A/N: Yo**

**Shoutouts go to: **

**a.p.**

**Ninja Noodle**

**Anno**

**twilight4ever**

**Turtleswag **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

Percy

Slowly, with shaking hands, I tore open the letter and read it.

_Dear Mr. Jackson,_

_We are happy to inform you that you have successfully made it into our Kentucky Music Program, or KMP. Please meet us at the school at 9:30 on Saturday morning. The list of people who will be coming with you/accompanying you in the band are:_

_David Wheezer_

_Peter Dase_

_Nico di Angelo_

_Jason Grace _

_Rachel Dare _

_Congratulations, and please go to our official webpage for more information. _

_All the best, _

_Kentucky Music Program_

I had made it into the program. Yesterday's audition was awesome.

Seeing as how it was Friday evening after classes, I walked out of my dorm room to celebrate. Down to Rachel's dorm I went.

When I opened the door, I saw her at her desk, the same letter in her hand.

"We made it!" She yelled.

I laughed. "Yeah, we did!"

She threw her arms around me. "This has got to be the best day ever!"

"It is! We're going to Kentucky!"

She kissed my cheek and gave a hysterical laugh. "I can't wait! It'll be so much fun. And no other people to bother us...just music-lovers...unlike that _Annabeth_...

"Annabeth..." I rolled the word around on my tongue...I hadn't said it in so long...

"Be back in a few," I said.

"But Percy-" I didn't hear the rest of Rachel's sentence because I had already shut the door.

Down the hallway I ran, maneuvering past people and avoiding teacher's classrooms.

Then I made it out the front door. I ran at top speed towards the cafe where I had had coffee with Annabeth so many months ago. It had warmed up since that Winter, and now it was considerably hot. I ran inside the cafe and paid for two beers, the same beers that me and Annabeth had drank together all that time ago. Then I ran back towards the school at top speed. Annabeth was going to flip when she found out that I had made it into the KMP.

A stab of guilt came at me. I hadn't talked to Annabeth in forever. The last time I had spent time with her was back in Winter, and it was almost Summer now.

I ran around the school towards the back because I would be able to get to Annabeth's dorm faster. But on my way there, I had seen the outdoor pool and skidded to a halt.

She was sitting at the very edge of the water with her feet swishing inside and her back to me. I grinned and took another step towards her, beers still in hand, when I heard footsteps coming from the side.

I saw a handsome boy with blond hair holding two beers of his own. He walked up to Annabeth with a charming smile and handed one to her.

"You look very pretty tonight, Annabeth."

She turned her head and smiled at him. It was true-she did look very pretty. Her long curls were down and there was a red flower in them. Other than that, she was wearing a white shirt and black skirt.

The guy turned his head slightly and spotted me. He smiled his perfect smile. "Can I help you?"

Annabeth turned her head to face me, and her smile immediately faded when she saw me. "Percy."

"Who is he?" I asked her, suddenly slightly angry.

"Um, this is Luke. Luke, that's Percy."

I took note of the beer bottle he was giving her. "I thought you only drank with me."

"Percy….."

"You-get out." I said to Luke.

He knitted his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"I said you-leave. Now, please."

"Percy-" Annabeth stood up. "Please don't-"

"Is he your boyfriend?" I asked her angrily.

"What?" Her face turned slightly pink.

"So what if I am?" Luke snarled. "Please leave."

"Dude, get out of here before I-"

Luke punched me in the face.

I dropped the beers and started to fight back.

"Guys-stop!" Annabeth tried to interfere in any way she could, but it didn't make any difference. Both me and Luke continued to fight each other, punching and kicking, until she yelled, "STOP!"

We both stopped and turned to look at her.

She was breathing hard. Turning to Luke, she said, "Luke, please give me a minute."

Grumbling, he stomped off.

Then she turned to me. "Percy, what was that?"

"What the heck, Annabeth, I thought you only drank with me!"

"Well, things change!"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"How does it matter to you?" She was suddenly angry. "You've been spending all your time with that witch, Rachel!"

"I-"

"Yeah, now's not the time to get jealous, Percy! Go run to your Rachel!"

The severity of what I had done came crashing onto my head and I staggered back.

A tear slipped down her face. "Just go. I don't want to talk to you anymore."

She turned around, when I heard a voice say, "Wait."

That's when I realized that the voice was mine.

She turned around, still crying. "What do you want?"

"I-I-I'm sorry, Annabeth. Rachel, she-she's nobody. I guess I should've realized how much time I was spending with her. It was stupid. I know I hurt your feelings and I really hope you can forgive me…..I love you."

It didn't seem like much, but to her, it must've been a lot. She started crying even harder.

The next thing I knew, I had given her a hug.

"You're really stupid," she said. "Such a Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah, I know." I smiled a little.

A few seconds passed until she pulled away and smiled. "Let's have that beer then, shall we?"

"Okay," I said, picking up the two bottles I had brought.

"But don't think I've forgiven you," She said, popping open her bottle.

"Aww man," I uncapped my own.

We spent quite some time by the pool, talking, laughing, drinking. I told her about the Kentucky Music Program, and she was pretty happy for me.

"So are you leaving tomorrow?" She asked.

"I don't know. They just told me to meet them at the school tomorrow. Don't know why."

We walked the school grounds, enjoying some time together. I could just imagine the looks on Luke and Rachel's faces right now.

When we had to head for our separate dorms, Annabeth kissed me, and I truly felt like my life was perfect.

I could only hope that it stayed that way.

* * *

Annabeth

After that Friday, I didn't see Percy at all.

Apparently he was whisked away on a flight to Kentucky, where he and his other lucky friends got to start some music program thing.

I didn't see him in school, and I wasn't able to call or text him because he had never given me his number.

I made it a point not to talk to Luke anymore, and so I was pretty lonely at high school.

But it would all be worth it in the end.

Right?

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Taylor Swift you were wrong!**

Thanks so much for the people who continually read this story. Why is this not in bold I have no idea whaaat why isn't it **oh there we go. **

**Okay, so I'll post theeee next chapter once I have at least 50 reviews total on dis story. You know how I roll. **

**And if you want a shoutout in the next chapter, include the word 'pineapples' creatively into your review. I don't know, don't ask, I'm wearing yellow, okay?**

**See you lates! Biiee! **


	10. A Crowd That Listens

**A/N: Shoutouts go to: **

**Horse1lover3**

**Snowflake Eliza Cahill Sparkle **

**Dictator Myra**

**Fluffy bunny**

**a.p**

**snowflake45**

**Ninja Noodle**

**twilight4ever**

**Man you guys are making it so hard to give shoutouts because THERE ARE SO DAM MANY! If you got that reference...then you and I can be friends. Make sure to mention it in ur review if u did. Why m I using txt slang? Idk. **

**Enjoy the chapter! **

_2 Years Later…_

Annabeth

The sky was a stormy gray color, with wisps of lavender and green in the dusk. I saw my reflection as I looked out the window at the thickening crowd outside.

They were all gathered there for the new concert of the Kentucky Music Program initiates. And, more specifically, the ones that had come from our school.

The curtain was closed, so I couldn't see who the members of the band were.

"Attention, all students please make your way down to the grounds, where we will be watching a special show from the Kentucky Music Program's musicians…"

After hearing the Secretary's voice on the intercom for the fourth time, I sighed and decided to go down.

Out the door, down the stairs, with the rest of the students. Outside, it was kind of humid, despite the beautiful sky. Soon, I was sweating. This _wasn't_ going to be a good concert. And I had already told myself not to get my hopes up. Percy was _not_ going to be there.

An excited buzz was passing through the crowd, but I didn't seem to share it. In fact, I almost felt...disappointed.

Soon, a blue-haired announcer came onto the stage.

"WELCOME ladies and gentleman of Goode High School to our official Kentucky Music Program High School concert!"

The crowd cheered. I let out a feeble, "Yay."

The blue-haired guy raised a hand and the crowd immediately fell silent. "My name is Sebastian, and I am happy to introduce to you the concert. But before that, let me tell you that it has been an honor working with the greatest musicians of your school. And keep in mind, that _you_ may soon be one of those great musicians. But you'll hear more of that after the concert. So ladies and gentlemen, here are your musicians…"

The curtain slowly started parting, and only the silhouettes of the musicians were visible. But a spotlight shone on each one in turn as Sebastian called out their names.

"David Wheezer!"

The crowd cheered for a guy that I recognized as one of Percy's friends. He had sandy hair and a wide grin .

"Peter Dase!"

Another cheer for a blond guy this time.

"Nico di Angelo!"

Cheers and another spotlight. The dark-haired boy looked like a bat-extreme sensitivity to light.

"Jason Grace!"

Another one of Percy's friends.

"Rachel Dare!"

The familiar girl with crazy red hair grinned mischievously at the crowd. The Princess of Punk all the way. If only Thalia was here…

"And last, but certainly not least, Percy Jackson!"

The loudest of all the cheers came for the dark haired, sea green eyed, percussionist. I looked up at the stage in shock as the familiar troublemaker grinned down at all of us.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for your musicians from the KENTUCKY MUSIC PROGRAM!" Sebastian had to shout the last three words because the crowd of students had already started applauding.

When the noise had finally dies down and the lights became dark once again, we heard the music start to blast from the speakers…

"_Some legends are told, some turn to dust or to gold…" _

The crowd whooped its approval for the song. Apparently the Peter guy could sing really well.

"_But you will remember me, remember me for centuries.."_

During the rest of the song, the crowd sang along, and soon, I found myself doing the same. This was kind of enjoyable.

When the song was finished, I found myself cheering with the rest of the crowd, rather lightly, though.

When the crowd became quiet again, the next song started.

"_Am I wrong, for thinking out the box from where I stay? Am I wrong, for saying that I choose another way?"_

Instead of cheering again, the crowd started singing along. I did the same, a smile tugging at my lips.

At the end of the song, the familiar applause and cheers. Then the next song.

"_I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones, Enough to make my systems blow. Welcome to the new age, to the new age. Welcome to the new age, to the new age."_

Something seemed familiar about these songs, but I couldn't tell what. So I just enjoyed myself, laughing and dancing to the music with all of the other students.

After Imagine Dragons came Maroon 5.

"_I really wanna love somebody. I really wanna dance the night away." _

The crowed cheered again, before singing along.

Then, in the middle of the word _love_, it hit me.

These were all of the songs Percy and his friends had played whenever I had come into their room. The thought made me smile a little bit wider.

But when the song ended, I knew that that was the last of the familiar songs. I thought the concert was going to be over, until I heard another song start up.

_Oh her eyes, her eyes_

_Make the stars look like they're not shining_

_Her hair, her hair_

_Falls perfectly without her trying_

The students in the crowd raised their arms and swayed them to the rhythm of the music.

And in the middle of the song, I swear my heart had stopped.

Because Percy had stared right at me.

I stared back at those sea-green eyes, and then the moment was over. He went back to his percussion.

At the end of the concert, the crowd roared its approval, and Sebastian came back into the center of the stage, in front of the band.

"Now, did you guys like _that_?!"

The crowed cheered and whistled.

Sebastian grinned. "Well, if you liked that, then you will certainly like our very next announcement. Percy, take it away."

Percy walked out from behind his set of drums and took the microphone from Sebastian.

"Thanks, Sebastian. And hello Goode High!"

His voice had become deeper, and so much had changed about him. He was slightly taller, more muscular, and his features seemed more defined.

So much had changed in the two years I hadn't seen him.

"Now, two years ago, I was a student just like yourself, who loved music. And I have a very special announcement for those of you who love music as well."

"Now, Peter here is an excellent singer, but we need a female singer to join the group. Rachel here is better at playing her guitar. No offense, Rach."

The crowd laughed, and Rachel grinned.

"So if you have a passion for dancing in the mirror and singing in the shower, then be sure to meet us after school in the ensemble room. Keep in mind that we're only going to be here for one week, before we're off to Kentucky again, so come in ASAP!"

The crowd applauded and cheered.

"And we're looking forward to see all of you again, all of our friends that we haven't seen in...um...a lot of days!"

A few students near the front yelled "730!" at him.

"Yeah. So make sure to look for us throughout this week at school. Tomorrow's Sunday, so practice your singing skills and be ready on Monday! Other than that, good night, Goode High!"

The crowd clapped again, before starting to head back towards the school. But some burning thing in my heart told me to go backstage, to say hello to the boy I hadn't seen in 730 days.

So I started to walk briskly against the crowd, towards the stage. Slowly, I got faster, and soon I was running. I clambered up the steps of the stage and headed for the curtain, when Sebastian stopped me.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, you can't pass the curtain…"

But I went around him, and stepped up to the curtain, pulling it open.

**A/N: HAHA CLIFFHANGER! **

**I hope I'm killing you right now. :D**

**Anyway, thx for all of your reviews and everything. It really means a lot to me. **

**And if YOU want a shoutout in the next chapter, find out how many times I said the word 'crowd' in this story. I really think I overused the word. Make sure you include the one in this author's note. **

**And let me see at least 8 more reviews until I post chapter 11, kay? Tanks. **

**See you guys next chapter! Bie! **


	11. The Wicked Witch of Backstage

**A/N: Shoutouts go to: **

**snowflake45 (who said 17) **

**Ninja Noodle (who said 19)**

**twilight4ever (who said 17) **

**a.p (who said 19)**

**And then there's Turtleswag, who said 18. (ur breaking stereotypes….kewl) **

**And the correct answer was….**

**I DON'T KNOW BECAUSE I AM TOO LAZY TO COUNT!**

**AND WHAT THE HECK GUYS! I get like two of each number, 17 and 19, and then the AVERAGE of those two numbers, which is 18 if you live under a rock and can't do math! Honestly, I am SO ready for summer. **

**Enjoy the super short chapter! **

Annabeth

I saw the band putting away their instruments with the regular lights on. Toolboxes were piled against the wall, empty chip bags floated around, and a broken disco ball lay in the corner. Percy was just putting away a pair of drumsticks, and a second later, Rachel walked up to him.

"Great job, Percy." She smiled and walked up real close to him. He moved slightly back. "Thanks, Rachel. You too."

Sebastian came up behind me and grabbed my arm, but I twisted him around and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Shh. This is an important scene for my love life."

His muffled cries died down as Percy and Rachel continued talking.

"So...are you busy tonight?" Rachel twirled her hair around her finger and leaned real close to Percy.

"Um, yes actually. Have to...finish homework?"

"Oh," Rachel pouted. "Are you sure you can't spare some time to-"

"Yep, I'm sure," Percy said quickly, throwing his drumsticks into a box nearby. "See you later, then?"

"Okay." Rachel gave Percy a hug. Percy looked revolted, especially when she planted a kiss on his cheek. As Rachel walked away, he wiped off his face as hard as he could.

Sebastian twisted out of my grip and glared at me. "Now, young lady, I understand you might have some ties to our band members, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"But-"

"Now!"

He started to push me back out onto the stage, when I heard Percy say, "It's okay, Sebastian, she's with me."

We both turned to see Percy, who was positively beaming.

Grumbling, Sebastian turned and walked out.

"Hey, Annabeth." Percy grinned and walked up to me. He gave me an embrace, and I swore I saw Rachel glaring at me from the corner of backstage.

"Hi Percy," I breathed, hugging him back. When we pulled away, I said, "Gosh,

It's been so long."

"Yeah. But we'll be here for a whole week."

"Just a week?"

He laughed. "Miss me that much?"

I punched his arm. "Too bad I don't have good vocal skills."

He shrugged. "Hey, who says you don't? Come to tryouts on Monday."

I sighed. "I'll try. Anyway...are you going to be staying in dorms?"

"Nah. We get to stay in special apartments the KMP rented for us."

"Cool." I smiled.

"You look really pretty, by the way."

I was taken aback. "T-thanks." I tried not to notice Rachel's eyes boring into my head across the room.

He sighed. "Anyway, gotta go. Peter wanted me to verify the tryout music we have before tomorrow, so he can publish it first thing in the morning. So, see ya."

"Bye." I gave a little wave. He kissed my cheek and walked down the stairs to the back of the stage.

I stood standing there for a few seconds, before I saw a large lump of curly, tangled, hair-sprayed red hair make its way towards me.

"Hey Rachel," I said, trying not to sound wary or rude.

"Annabeth." She acknowledged me. "I see you're still close with Percy."

"Yeah...I guess."

She cocked her head to the side a bit, her face displaying a look of innocent, almost sweet confusion and thinking. "What do you have, that I don't?"

And, quick as lightning, she scooped up a stray wrench at the side of a toolbox and slammed it against my head. Everything went blurry, and the last thing I heard before crashing to the floor were thudding footsteps and Rachel's evil laughter.

**A/N: You're gonna catch a cold...from the ice inside your soul…. **

**Hehe. Fist bump if you know that song. AND DON'T YOU DARE GO LOOK IT UP….**

**I like CAPS LOK**

**So if YOU want a shoutout in the next chapter, which will be one of my favorites, tell me what a good name for the daughter of Annabeth and Percy Jackson would be. And also, go ahead and give me a favorite/follow, because it'll make you so much cooler….:D**

**And thanks so much for reading this story. I feel like...it's so...sniffle...amazing…**

**I will post the next chapter when we get, hmm, let's say, 90 total reviews on this story. **

**Until then, Bie! **


	12. An Ice Pack

**A/N: Shoutouts go to: **

**ChryssieCullen **

**PunksNotDeadYouAre**

**Turtleswag**

**TheBambooBook**

**Guest **

**snowflake45 **

**Ninja Noodle (my bff, or something like that. :) ) **

**a.p **

**And to answer your question, percabethforever16, YES! I love YJHD, and that is where I got the idea from. High five.**

* * *

**So sorry I haven't updated in more than like 47 years! I've been having a SUPER fun beginning of summer and I have an awesome story to share with you guys. If you want to read it then just….um…..keep reading. **

**So my family and I went to Universal Studios on the second to last day of school, and the first day we spent at the resort, just checking things out. **

**Turns out they had an AWESOME pool filled with beach balls and water playscapes and whatnot. So I was just chilling with my family, playing ball and accidentally throwing the ball into this forest-y part of the resort where we weren't supposed to be. And every time the lifeguard blew the whistle at us for trying to get the ball back I was like, "Bruh. It's your ball, not mine. Have it punctured if you want." **

**Anyway, constant music was always playing, and it was boss music. I SWEAR they played uptown funk like five times. **

**They soon called everyone up for a water balloon competition, and I chose my dad as a partner because he is so awesome. So the competition was that we had to throw the balloon to our partner back and forth without it popping. So we started out fine, before they moved us like ten feet apart. I heard the song Centuries start right before my dad tossed the balloon to me, and I was like "REMEMBER ME FOR CENTURIES-oh crap te water balloon." **

**Obviously, it exploded on me. **

**But what a great tribute to this story. Thanks guys for making this an amazing experience for me. I don't know why I'm saying all this sappy stuff because it isn't even the end of the story. **

**READ!**

Percy

"So, Percy, want to hang out after we clean up?"

I turned to look at Rachel, who was slinking against the wall with a wry smile. She looked like she just lifted all the mountains in the world with ease, and a crowd of roaring fans had supported her.

"I'm actually...busy." I internally smacked myself. Why didn't I ask Annabeth to hang out with me five minutes ago? It would've bought me an excuse to stay away from Rachel.

"Busy doing what?" Rachel walked closer.

"Busy...hanging out with my best friend Jason Grace!" I took the opportunity and yanked the arm of my friend towards me. His electric blue eyes glared at me, but I gave him a look that said, _Dude, just go with it, I need help._

With a heavy, dramatic sigh, Jason looked at Rachel. "Oh, yes, I forgot, I have to help Percy clean up his house because the Queen of England is coming over tomorrow. My bad."

Rachel blinked. "What?"

"Never mind," I said quickly, walking around her and towards the stage. "Let me just-"

"NO!" Rachel took a step in front of me. "You can't go out there!"

I frowned. "Why not? Sebastian puke again?"

"No! I mean, uh, yes!"

"Awesome," Jason said, pushing past us both. "Makes me want to see it even more."

"NO! Please don't go out there, just use the back entrance-"

Getting impatient, I walked briskly past the curtain.

Everything looked in place….

Except for the golden curls lying on the floor.

A purple bruise that I didn't remember before decorated the left side of her head. A surge of cold shock rattled through me, before I ran towards her, kneeling on the ground.

"Annabeth? ANNABETH?!"

"What's wrong dude?" Jason walked up behind me, and when he saw Annabeth's limp body, he whistled. "She needs an ice pack."

"No duh! We should drive her back to the hotel." I tried to lift her, and motioned for Jason to help me.

"Dude, are you sure we shouldn't just go to the nur-"

"JASON!"

"Fine, fine." He grabbed Annabeth's legs, and together, we carried her down the steps.

"Percy! Where are you going?" Rachel peeked out from behind the stage curtains.

"Somewhere you're not going to be."

"What?! Why?!"

"Something tells me _you_ had something to do with my girlfriend being injured."

Her face flushed red. "She isn't your girlfriend."

"Then what, is she yours?" Jason snorted at her. "Lay off, Rachel."

"Don't tell me what to do, Grace," she sneered. "We all know the truth about your mom."

His cheeks turned red with rage, but his voice was contrastingly calm. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up and leave now. At least my mom was smart enough to have _me_ as a child. Unlike your mother, obviously."

Rachel decided to ignore that comment, huffing out a breath of air and crossing her arms. "Look, Percy, I suggest you call Sebastian and tell _him_ to take care of her. We still have practice to do."

"No, we don't," Jason pointed out. "We're holding auditions this week."

"Shut it, Grace."

He shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I'm not liable to shut your mouth. It's practically impossible, judging by how big it is. Just another mistake made by your mom, I guess."

I laughed at that. "Rachel, I think I hear David calling you. Go help him out."

"Fine, but don't think we're done with this conversation." She glared at Jason, then turned swiftly on her heel and turned back to backstage.

"Where's the van?" Jason asked, ignoring what had just happened.

"I don't know...let's hope Sebastian hasn't already-HEY! SEBASTIAN! WAIT!" I had spotted Sebastian in the van, driving out of the lot, but when he turned and noticed me, he rolled his eyes and pulled up in front of us.

"Can I help you?" He asked irritatedly.

"Yeah, um, we kind of need a ride home…" Jason laughed nervously.

"And I suppose you're taking _her_ with you? I hope _you_ didn't knock her out?"

"Of course not," I snapped. But then I said, a little kinder, "But we need to get her an ice pack. Mind driving us to the hotel?"

"Of course not," he muttered. "Hop in."

"Thanks." Jason and I pulled open the door and climbed inside, careful to place Annabeth. Sebastian started driving even before we had fastened our seatbelts. He obviously did not like how this night was going.

I watched the trees pass by as Sebastian departed from the school. The night was cool, and I opened a window, letting it ruffle my hair.

"She'll be okay," Jason reassured me.

"Yeah," I murmured. But by the time we reached the hotel, she hadn't woken up.

I _really_ hoped she hadn't lost her memory. We had been so close, and for her to forget all that…

And it was _crazy_ that just twenty minutes before, we had been conversing like old friends.

Rachel. It had to be.

* * *

Annabeth

"Annabeth….wake up…."

I slowly blinked my eyes open to see a pair of sea green ones peering down worriedly at me.

"Annabeth! You're awake. Ah, thank god. Here….an ice pack…"

"Percy? What-" I was cut off by him handing me an ice pack. I pressed it to the side of my head.

Then it came rushing back. Rachel. The wrench. The wicked witch of backstage.

I groaned as I sat up. "Where are we? Who's that?" I saw one of Percy's bandmates sitting across from us on another bed. He was handsome, with blond hair and electric blue eyes.

"We're at the hotel. You were just lying on the stage, and then I saw you, and-"

"We brought you here," Jason said, because Percy had started to stutter.

"Oh. Thanks?" What did you say to someone who had just brought you to a hotel after a character from Disney's Brave hit you with a wrench across the face? **A/N: Fist bump if you just smiled after reading that. **

"I'm so glad you're okay," Percy said. He was making a sad face. Such a Seaweed Brain.

"Me too. Rachel, she just-"

"Yeah," Jason said, "We know. She just has something against you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah," I said, remembering all the time she had spent with Percy two years ago.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry, I didn't even contact you in all these years, and Rachel-she-she-well, I mean…" He seemed to have read my mind.

"It's fine. I can tell you don't like Rachel."

"Yeah. I like you way better." Percy smiled his crooked smile.

"You know what?" Jason said. "I think I'm just going to leave…."

We laughed as Jason stumbled out the door. After he shut it, we heard him bump into someone outside.

"Sorry!" He said.

I laughed. "Wonder who that is."

"Doesn't matter to me," Percy said. "I'm just glad I'm with you. Again."

"I'm glad that you're glad."

"And Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Please come to auditions on Monday. I really want you to come with us to Kentucky. I can't leave without you again."

My heart fluttered. Outside, I heard Jason having a conversation with the person he bumped into.

"Hey, I'm Jason, by the way."

"I'm Piper."

I smiled. "I'll try. I've never really been into singing."

"Just try. If not, I'll sneak you onto the plane." He yawned.

Instinctively, I yawned too. Leaning back onto Percy, I felt my eyes slowly close…

**A/N: So that was the next chapter! Make sure to leave a review if you want Annabeth to join Percy in Kentucky!**

**Again, I apologize for the slow updates, I have a lot going on right now! But be sure to stick around for the next chapters, because they include a lot of cool stuff! Sabotage from Rachel, Jasper, a sing-off between Annabeth and Rachel, and lots more!**

**If YOU want a shoutout in the next chapter, let me know how good my writing is. Is it awful? Is it moderate? Is it amazing? Tell me what is good and what I need to improve, because I'm writing a really important story with my friend and it needs to be PERFECT! I must know my flaws and strong spots, so I can write my best. **

**Thank you so much for 100 reviews! A century of reviews…**

**Hehe. Remember meee for centurieees….**

**Bie! **


	13. The Dare House

**A/N: Shoutouts go to: **

**Turtleswag**

**Nate **

**Guest **

**snowflake45**

**Caution: Really short chapter. But the good thing is, it adds more DRAMA! And be sure to answer the shoutout question at the end of this chapter, because I really need help! **

**Until then, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Mr. Dare sipped his coffee at the head of the dining table, eyeing the newspaper in his hand carelessly. The truth was, he wasn't even reading it. He was peeking over it to take in his daughter, who had paid him a breakfast visit. Her red hair was puffed out and was as curly as ever, and her punk-ish clothes made her stand out from the rest of the house. Everything was always in order in the Dare house. Mr. Dare made sure of that.

"So, Rachel," Mr. Dare put down his drink and scrutinized his daughter some more, "What brings you here on this fine Sunday morning? Something you wanted to tell me?"

"Actually, father," Rachel said, putting down her drink as well, "Our KMP band group is holding auditions this week to bring in a new female singer."

Mr. Dare frowned. "Why? I thought you could sing?"

"I _can_, and that's the problem. I _can_ sing, but the other team just ignores me. And the drummer, Percy Jackson, likes this girl who I'm pretty sure is awful at singing. He might take her in as singer and it might ruin our band! Plus, I hate her."

"Hmm." Mr. Dare _hated_ when people were better at him in anything. "Then you have to make sure she doesn't get into your band."

"How?"

He leaned forward, hissing the word, "_Sabotage."_

* * *

**A/N: What a short chapter. Wow. I am so bad. **

**Anyway, the SUPER IMPORTANT shoutout question for this chapter is: **

**WHAT are some songs that Rachel and Annabeth should sing when they have their sing-off? KEEP IN MIND that the sing off is happening on Wednesday, so it won't be in the next chapter. **

**ALSO how do YOU think Rachel should sabotage Annabeth/The Band/ANYTHING so that Annabeth doesn't get into KMP? **

**I hope you guys liked this super bad chapter. :) **

**Bie! **


	14. Chase

**A/N: WARNING: SUPER LONG A/N. **

**Yo guys! Thank you to everyone who answered the shoutout question/s! Here are the shoutouts: **

**For songs: **

**Biaxbm (I actually have heard of some of those bands, but I'm not an active listener. I'll be sure to open an ear for them, though!) **

**amazingunicorn (but we don't have to be….)**

**Anno (I like your thinking…:))**

**Turtleswag (I haven't heard Young and Beautiful or Cedric Gervais, but I shall listen to them on the you'e'tube)**

**TheBambooBook (I ALSO like your thinking! I probably will include some of those songs in there:))**

**a.p (I was actually thinking of using those EXACT same songs! We are totally on the same wavelength. I haven't heard the Alicia Keys one though, I'll be sure to check it out…:))**

**Myzies (Don't think the Frank twins will have time to answer, but tank you very much. I shall ask them about their interest in songs when I get the chance. Hope ur having fun in France!) **

**For sabotage: **

**amazingunicorn (gouda)**

**ShatteredOwl (Gooooood ideas) **

**Myzies (Ammaaaazing! I shall now try my hand at some French: clears throat **

"**la toilette a un chien en elle." **

**How'd I do?) **

**And thank you to the people who said that they hope Annabeth makes it past the sabotage, because it really made my day: **

**twilight4ever **

**candycrum **

**ANYWAY I'm planning to make the sabotage REALLY evil, taking a few ideas from some movies I know. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

Annabeth

I now knew that miracles weren't real.

I had been expecting my vocal chords to be the best of the best, and if they weren't, then at least a miracle would be present. But no.

The truth was:

I. Couldn't. Sing.

I had started practicing in the mirror Sunday afternoon after hanging out with Percy, and after listening to my recording, I found that my singing voice sounded like a strangled duck who was being forced to swallow hot coals. And I had no idea how I knew what that sounded like.

But since the very first auditions were today, and I needed to have a good spot, I just satisfied myself with the thought that my voice would sound better later.

Percy had told me that auditions started at 7:45 in the morning, so that they could get as many people to perform as possible before school started at 9:00.

I put on a pretty gray pleated skirt with a blue shirt to make myself look presentable, and I pinned my hair back. Then, grabbing my canvas bag, I turned the doorknob.

It wouldn't budge.

Thinking it was just stuck, I turned it harder, used my shirt, even banged on it with my shoulder a few times. But the only result were bruised limbs.

So I walked over to the campus telephone sitting on my nightstand and dialed the lobby's number. They picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Annabeth Chase, room 3663, and my door actually won't open."

"Then how can you reach the telephone?"

"It's not locked from the inside, I'm actually stuck on the inside. The door won't open."

"Excuse me, is this a joke?"

"No! I'm really stuck inside my dorm room!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you. Being stuck inside your own room isn't possible. Try the doorknob."

And he hung up.

Groaning in frustration, i threw down the phone, charged at the door, and slid painfully to the ground beside it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that my clock read 7:30. I only had 15 minutes to figure out what was wrong with my door and get down to the spare band room for auditions. Or else I wouldn't get a good spot in line and make it into KMP with my singing skills.

But, as of right now, my singing skills pretty much sucked.

I looked down at the hard wooden floor of my dorm, coming in with the tile floor of the hallway outside. I stuck my hand through the crack in the door, only to feel a small hair stick to my hand. Bringing it up to the light, I saw that the hair was a vibrant red.

Rachel.

That girl was a maniac. _How_ she could've locked me inside my own room without access to the inside was beyond me.

The clock ticked along irritatingly, until finally, at 7:35, I decided to take desperate action.

Slowly, I walked up to the nightstand and opened the window behind it. I felt a blast of cool morning air hit my face, followed by the muggy feeling of rain. Praying that nobody was watching from down below, I hopped onto my nightstand, put one foot on the windowsill, grabbed the top of the window, and swung myself outside.

My first thought: Shoot. I'm wearing a skirt. Still praying that no one was watching the blond-haired girl climb down a school building, I pulled my other leg out and used the side of a pipe running down the side of the building as a foothold. Slowly, I lifted a foot and shut the window. Then, I started to climb down.

I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I didn't know all the people who lived in the dorms around me. In fact, I had _no_ idea who the other people in the dorms were. I didn't have any friends here.

But there was one person whose dorm room I had memorized by heart.

Quickly calculating where his dorm would be, I set off downward, searching for the window with the large speakers in it. My foot slipped once, and I wildly grabbed for a windowsill. If anybody were to look up now, they would probably think I was trying to commit suicide and failing epicly.

Where was his dorm?

Window with the cactus in it, window with the statue of Zeus in it, window blocked by books, and finally, the familiar room with the messy interior and large speakers. When I peeked inside, I saw Percy grabbing his things and turning to leave for the door. Desperately, I kicked the window hard. He froze, turned around, and finally noticed me in the window. I managed a weak smile as his jaw dropped to the floor. He was standing there just staring at me until I kicked the window harder this time and he unfroze, rushing to open the window and pull me inside.

"Annabeth Chase, what are you doing?" Percy looked at me like I was crazy. Which I probably was.

"Climbing...to...down…" I panted, gasping for breath.

"Here," Percy rummaged through his bag and pulled out an Ozarka water bottle, which I gratefully opened and started chugging down.

"Somebody locked my door and I was stuck on the inside," I finally said, putting the water bottle in my bag. "And I had to come to auditions, and the lobby people were being fools, so I climbed down here."

"That was extremely dangerous! Just call me next time!" Percy looked serious.

I laughed. "Are _you_ lecturing _me_, Seaweed Brain?"

"No! Just don't try to be James Bond next time!"

"Fine, fine. Now let's go, it's already 7:40, you're going to miss your own auditions."

So, with one more suspicious glance at me, Percy unlocked the door of his room and we walked out together.

People in the hallway stared as Percy walked past, like he was some sort of celebrity. Which he was, having gotten into KMP.

I remembered a night two years ago when he had felt that he hadn't belong here. It felt like it was centuries ago.

* * *

_What's wrong?_

_Nothing. _

_Come on, what's wrong?_

_Fine, if you really want to know, the principal told me I would get expelled if I didn't perform better in school._

_Oh. _

_It's just...I have difficulty sometimes. And math just...isn't where my heart is. I love music. Not multiplication. _

_Okay. Then why don't we do this? I'll help you out with homework, and you can listen to music while we do it? _

_Really?_

_Really._

_Thanks, Wise Girl._

* * *

We turned a corner, getting closer and closer to the band room.

* * *

_It's been so hard for me, you know. It's not easy being me._

_Welcome to my world._

_You? But…_

_It's not as easy as it looks. I moved here, leaving all my friends behind. I've had to work out the stress and homework and lack of friends. _

_I'll be your friend. _

_Gee, thanks. _

_I mean it! And what's so bad about having the handsomest boy in the world as your friend?_

* * *

"So how are your singing skills?" Percy asked as we approached the band room.

"Uh, great!" I lied, biting my lip. I wasn't about to tell him that my singing sucked and I had no chance whatsoever of making it into the band group.

"That's good. There's some pretty tough competition, and Rachel told me she's thinking of competing herself!"

A thread of fear knit through me. "Rachel? I thought you said she couldn't sing? That she was better at the guitar?"

"Apparently I was wrong. I don't know if she's competing today, though. Here we are…" He held open the door for me and I walked inside.

The spare band room was pretty large to be considered a spare, only slightly smaller than the cafeteria. Rows and rows of black music stands were aligned in the back, with assorted instrument stands next to them. Several new and old speakers were shoved in the corner, followed by a tangle of wires. Several microphone stands were scattered throughout the room, some with mics in them, and some without. A crowd of about fifty girls were crammed into the corner, and to avoid being squished, I sat in the front.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the very first auditions for KMP band female singer!"

The crowd cheered. I stayed silent.

Percy held up a hand to silence everyone. "So today, as you know, is the first audition time for female singer. There's going to be another time tonight at 7:00, outside the school, so be sure to be there if you want any chance of making it in! The audition this morning is just so we can gauge your abilities, but the one tonight will eliminate about twenty of you."

Nervous mutters went through the crowd.

"So since we didn't ask you to prepare anything for this morning, you can sing a couple verses of whatever song you want. But the song that you need to practice for this evening is…" he consulted a list that his blond-haired friend, Jason Grace, handed him. "Kelly Clarkson's Heartbeat Song." **A/N: Listen to that song a whole bunch if you've never heard it before! :) **

"So we're going to go by row, so first person in the first row, come up here…"

The first girl in line stood up and nervously walked forward. She talked with Percy for a bit, before they walked to a different room with a mic. When she finally started singing, it was beautiful.

I felt stupid for sitting in the front row. Only four people were ahead of me.

As the number of people went down, my palms got sweatier. My singing wasn't ever going to change. It would always be horrible. What was I thinking? I had never taken choir before!

When there was only one more person ahead of me, I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my bag, got up, and headed for the bathroom.

Faintly I could hear someone following me, but I didn't really care. I walked briskly to the nearest girl's washroom, my face feeling hot and flushed.

Bursting inside, I threw my bag to the ground and splashed my feverish face with cold water.

It would be okay. I didn't know how to sing. I wouldn't get into KMP. I would never see Percy again. It was _not_ okay.

"Hey," a voice behind me said. "You're Annabeth Chase, right?"

I closed the tap and looked up to see a pretty girl with coppy brown hair and kaleidoscope eyes.

"Yeah," I said. "Why?"

"Jason told me about you. You're auditioning for female singer, right?"

"I was."

She frowned. "Why 'was'?"

Slowly, I told her about everything. Percy, Rachel, KMP, how I couldn't sing, my hopelessness. Everything.

After I was done, she slowly nodded. Then she put on a little smile and held out her hand. "I'm Piper. Piper McLean. And I think I can help you."

* * *

Rachel

The crowd of students waiting in the auditorium made it hard for me to find who I was looking for. A lot of blondies. A lot of boys. But finally, I found the blond-haired boy I was looking for.

Grabbing his shirt, I pulled him to the side.

"Hey! What's your problem?" His blue eyes pierced me menacingly.

"Shut it. I need your help."

"With...what?" He gave me a suspicious look.

"Annabeth Chase." The moment he heard the name his eyes were wide open and eager. I told him about the girl, how mean and evil she was. And she had somehow figured out how to make it to auditions despite the fact that I had locked her door, trapping her inside.

"I'm going to be going to auditions tonight, and hopefully that little monster gets eliminated," I said confidently, after telling him everything.

"Sounds good. But I have to ask," he shuffled his feet, "What's in this for me?"

I smiled. "Revenge on your ex-girlfriend of course. And the guy who stole her from you."

He grinned. "I'm Luke, by the way."

"I know. I'm Rachel. A winner."

**A/N: #MINDBLOWN**

**If you want a shoutout in the next chapter, tell me what YOU want your career to be when you grow up. What interests you the most, something that pulls at you, that you have a passion for more than anything? Something that you would give up anything for? For Percy in here, it's music. What's it for you? **

**Also, keep it coming with the song ideas! **

**Thanks for reading. This chapter took forever but I wanted to make it long to make it up to you guys for barely posting. So R&amp;R! Bie! **


	15. Blue Tacos

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while….I've just had so much going on...yeah, that's a lame excuse. Anyway, here are the shoutouts and replies: **

**HispanicThug: Sounds great! I love that you like helping people. I usually either make friends, or slap people in the face. Mentally, of course. :) **

**Biaxbm: That sounds awesome! Prima is actually my nickname, and it is not meant to be translated! It was my nickname in a game I was playing with a friend, and apparently it stuck because people call me that from time to time. Including Siri. **

**BooksaremyBestbuddies: I totally understand. Cool choices, I hope to see your name on a book someday! **

**FabulousFeather: A teacher has always seemed appealing to me, mainly so that I could fix everything I hate about **_**my**_ **teachers right now. And thanks for reading the whole thing, that's usually hard for me to do because I get bored after the first chapter :) **

**PunksNotDeadYouAre: I think that is a great thing to want to be, and I'm glad your heart condition has healed! Hope you live more than a century! (see what i did there? what up constant song reference!) **

**Olympian and Wizard: That's cool! I wish you luck designing buildings **_**and**_ **books! And thanks for the songs, I'll be sure to listen to them!**

**Nightcorelover297: I love that everything you want to do is related to the fine arts. I wish you luck also!**

**Turtleswag: Yes. Definitely. **

**a.p: That's cool! I like how everything you want to do is in a wide range, from doing gymnastics to singing to architect-ing! Is that even a word? **

**twilight4ever: Yes! I love your confidence in what you want to do, and I hope you graduate with your best friend and become great fashion designers! **

**Sorry that took sooooo long. Here's the chapter!**

* * *

Annabeth

"...and this microphone is connected to a very small chip that will sing in a beautiful voice for you. All you have to do is say the words." Piper handed me a silver microphone and pointed to a small green chip at the bottom.

"So whose voice is it?" I asked, examining the mic.

"It's your voice, except autotuned."

"Hey, Piper?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't this...cheating?"

She pursed her lips. "Not really, I mean, it's still your voice, just...modified."

I chose to believe that it wasn't cheating.

* * *

Rachel

Across the lunch room, Annabeth was sitting next to some ugly girl with braids. They were both obsessing over some microphone.

"See that, Luke?" I pointed in their direction.

"What? The salad?" He squinted in their direction.

"No, idiot, the microphone. It must be special to Annabeth somehow. You've got to steal it."

He shrugged. "Okay. But how am I supposed to do that?"

Rachel smiled. "I have a plan."

* * *

Annabeth

Take two of auditions.

I could hear people starting to gather outside, and so that I got a good spot, I hurriedly ran a comb through my hair, snapped on a necklace, and grabbed my bag.

I heard a knock on my door. Expecting Piper, I walked up to the door and opened it, getting a pair of sea green eyes instead.

"Oh, hey, Percy."

"Hi. I was just wondering, um, if you wanted to walk down with me?"

"Yeah, sure, let me just get my…" I turned back towards my desk, waiting for the familiar silver gleam of the microphone.

But...it wasn't there.

"What are you looking for?" Percy asked.

"Um, my microphone….I mean, it's the only one I used to practice…" It felt awful lying to Percy. Although it wasn't technically lying. It _was_ the only one I practiced Kelly Clarkson's Heartbeat Song with.

"Where did you leave it last? Is it in your bag?" I shook my head, but rummaged through my bag anyway.

"It's not there." I was slightly panicky now. I couldn't sing using another microphone!

Then I remembered.

Luke had purposely sat behind me during science and he kept leaning an arm on my chair to say hi. I had gotten annoyed and had stopped responding, and that was when I felt my bag on the back of my chair move…

"Luke stole it." I said.

"Wait..._Luke_ stole it? Luke Castellan?"

"Yes," I said emptily. "He stole it. And it's gone."

"No it's not." There was a determined look on Percy's face. " We can steal it back. There's still five minutes before auditions start. Just tell me where his dorm is."

So, with a renewed hope, I grabbed my bag and quickly directed Percy to where Luke's dorm was. I had remembered it all these years, even after we had broken up.

"It's locked," I said. "Of course it is."

Percy turned to me. "Do you have a hair pin?"

"No…"

"WHAT?! Every girl has hair pins!"

"Apparently not. Why, were you going to pick the lock?"

"Yes! Gah, what do we do now?"

I rolled my eyes. "I may not be the kind of girl that sticks pins in her hair all the time, but I do carry these…" I reached in my bag, and pulled out a bag of paperclips.

Percy grabbed a pink one and stuck it in the lock, while I made sure no one was watching us. A couple seconds later the door popped open.

Luke's room was exactly the same as it was the last time I was in it, which was two years ago. A neat, made bed and neat papers and stacks of pencils on his desk. The curtains were drawn, and everything smelled of fruit.

Weird.

"Okay, hurry, start looking…" I set down my bag and ran to the desk, pulling open drawers and throwing aside papers. Percy searched under the bed and everywhere near, but stood up empty handed. I had no luck either. Then both of our gazes turned to the window...

"Curtains!" Both of us said, and we ran up there and threw back the coarse fabric to find…

Nothing.

Percy groaned. "Are you sure Luke stole it?"

"Yes! Positive! He stole it during science and he had this weird smile on his face when he was talking to Rachel after class and-" Then it hit me. "He must have given it to Rachel!"

"Then let's go to her dorm!" Percy said, turning back towards the door.

"Wait! I thought you said everyone from KMP was staying at the hotel?"

"Yes, but we're allowed to use our old dorms while we're at the school. And Rachel doesn't carry a bag around, so it must be in her room!"

So back out the door we went, and this time, Percy himself knew the way to Rachel's room. A pinch of sadness touched my heart, but I pushed it away. I had to find that mic if I wanted to become KMP's new female singer.

Percy picked the lock again, and this time I found myself in the messiest room I had ever seen. Clothes strewn everywhere, crumpled up paper on the floor, posters of bands and wrinkled chip bags. It smelled awful.

"Come on, keep looking…" I threw down my bag once more and started kicking things around, searching for the familiar silver handle of the microphone that was programmed with my autotuned voice. Percy went into the bathroom to search, and that's when I heard the door lock and a familiar evil cackle.

"Have fun with your microphone in there, Chase, while you miss auditions."

"Rachel!" I ran to the door and tried the knob, but it wouldn't work.

She cackled again. "I'd love to chat, but I have to go meet with Percy before auditions start. And he's outside. Have fun in my room, Chase." And the sound of her heavy boots clunking met my ears.

_She doesn't know Percy's in here with me._

"Found it!" I heard Percy say, returning from the bathroom with my microphone. I gratefully took it back and shoved it deep into my bag, and cringed when Percy tried the doorknob, because just like when I tried, it wouldn't open.

"Crap!" Percy kicked the door, hard, but it still wouldn't budge.

"Now what?" I said frustratedly. "There aren't any windows to climb out of either." I turned to stare at the bare back wall.

Percy's eyes suddenly flashed. "It's the law that each dorm in the school has to have at least one window. I think I saw one in the bathroom…"

So we ran inside the bathroom and wedged open a tiny window.

"Ladies first," Percy said. So I swung one leg over the sill and outside, glad that I was wearing jeans, and then swung the other leg over, standing on the sill. I started to climb down, and then Percy climbed out and shut the window. He climbed faster than me, so soon, we were at the same level.

"This is crazy," I said through gritted teeth.

"Apparently you didn't think so this morning," Percy said, grinning. "Hey, why didn't you come to auditions this morning? I forgot to ask."

"Oh. I, uh, had to have an emergency talk with my mom. Some important business thing. That's why I left." Satisfied with my lie, though guilty with creating it, I didn't watch where I was stepping and slipped, but Percy caught me, one arm around my waist.

"Thanks," I breathed.

"No problem, Wise Girl." He said calmly. I noticed that he was really close to my face. Then I noticed that I had noticed it, and mentally slapped myself.

When we finally reached the ground, my legs were wobbly. Apparently I had much more courage by myself than with Percy.

Which is why my heart practically stopped when he kissed my cheek and ran off to join the oblivious crowd of people.

After making his little speech about how this audition would actually count, he started calling up people. I met up with Piper and told her the little scenario that had just played out. Her eyes just got wider and wider.

I was the last person to go, and when it was finally my turn, I was super nervous. Jason Grace was the one listening to me, and the last time I had seen him, it was right after I had been hit with Rachel's wrench. I wasn't sure if that counted as a good first impression.

But when he said I could start, I just turned on the microphone and let everything flow out.

_This is my heartbeat song and I'm gonna play it _

_Been so long I forgot how to turn it up up up up all night long_

_Oh, up up all night long…._

Everything else was blotted out, and it was just me, and the lyrics I had rehearsed with Piper, and my wonderful-sounding autotuned voice. And soon, the song was over.

_Oh, up up all night long…_

Jason applauded me and I felt myself grin. I walked back over to Piper, who was jumping up and down and clapping.

"Oh, Annie, that was amazing!"

"Annie?"

"Yeah, your new nickname! Anyway, you rocked! You're totally gonna get in!"

I breathed, "I hope so." I put my mic back in my bag and was about to start walking back to the school with Piper when Percy walked up to me.

"Hey, Annabeth, you were great. I heard you."

I smiled. "Thanks." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Piper slowly inching away.

"So, um…" Percy's cheeks flushed. "I was wondering, if...um...if you...er…"

"If I what?"

"If you'd want to have dinner with me, or something."

I smiled even wider. "That sounds awesome. Where d'you want to eat?"

He seemed super relieved that I had said yes. "Hmm...How about that new Mexican place uptown? I heard they sell blue tacos."

"Blue tacos?"

"Yep. Blue tacos."

* * *

**A/N: Soooo, I hope you liked that chapter! It's been like forever since I've posted, and that's because I've been working on a separate story called 'The Painters' which is basically like a dystopian future book filled with lots of drama! Let me know if you want an excerpt from it! It has some dark history, and some dark futures. If you liked The Testing OR Legend OR The Hunger Games, I think you'll like The Painters. So if you want an excerpt, let me know in a review! **

**And the shoutout question for today is….**

**Huh. I have absolutely no idea what i should-**

**GOT IT! **

**Which of the following song lyrics relates to your personality the most, and why? What kind of person are you? **

_**1) Ever since I could remember, everything inside of me, just wanted to fit in. I was never one for pretenders, everything inside of me, just wouldn't settle in.**_

_**2) Let it go, let it go, turn away and slam the door! I don't care, what they're going to say! Let the storm rage on! The cold never bothered me anyway. **_

_**3) DJ turn it up, it's about dam time to live it up, I'm so sick of being so serious, It's making my brain delirious, I'm just talkin' truth.**_

_**4) We were never welcome here, we were never welcome here at all. No. It's who we are, doesn't matter if we've gone too far, doesn't matter if it's all okay, doesn't matter if it's not our day…**_

_**5) insert song lyrics here**_

**If 1-4 didn't describe you, give me lyrics from another song! Exclamation point! **

**R&amp;R! Bie! **


	16. Not Bad

**A/N: Yo guys! I know updates are taking for ever, apologies, yada yada yada yoda, here are the shoutouts from last chapter: **

**HispanicThug**

**PunksNotDeadYouAre **

**808fangirl **

**FabulousFeather**

**a.p **

**Turtleswag **

**twilight4ever **

**amazingunicorn**

**Anno**

**Here's your chapter! Oh yeah, and be sure to check the A/N at the bottom of da page for some very important information. Enjoy!**

* * *

Annabeth

"Ah, this is the life." Percy grinned at me. We were sitting in the corner of a red-lighted restaurant, full of people. He had just ordered the blue tacos, and I had ordered a blue burrito, since Percy insisted that everything blue tasted better.

"If you say so." I took a sip of my water. "I guess you're probably used to this. You know, eating out a lot."

"Mmhmm." He nodded vigorously. "You won't believe the kinds of crazy restaurants they have around here. Me and Jason once had a donut-eating contest, but it ended up as a tie. "

"Jason and I," I corrected.

He smiled. "You are _such_ a Wise Girl."

"And _you_ are such a Seaweed Brain."

"So tell me," he said, leaning back and putting an arm on his seat, "How's your singing going? You sounded really good today."

_That's because I was using an autotuned microphone. _"It's going great. Thanks so much for helping me get my microphone back."

"Why would Luke steal it, though?" Percy frowned. "And why would he give it to Rachel?"

I shrugged. "Sabotage? Rachel really wants to get into KMP as female singer and Luke really hates me."

"So it isn't true, then?" Percy leaned forward, his face being illuminated by the golden lamp shining above our heads.

"What isn't true?" I raised an eyebrow.

Percy cleared his throat. "Rachel said that she heard that you and Luke were dating again."

"What?!" I said so loudly that several heads turned our way.

Percy nodded. "And I was kind of worried, because, um….well, you know."

I was suddenly amused. "Why were you worried?"

"That, you know, I had lost you again."

"Aww," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "That is so cute."

His face flushed. "I guess."

The waiter came back with Percy's tacos and my burrito. We both started to eat.

"Well," I said, half a bite of burrito in my mouth, "Luke can be really mean. No wonder he teamed up with Rachel."

"I guess Rachel..." Percy paused. "_Can _get a little mean sometimes."

_Mean to the extent of throwing wrenches at people. Yeah. _

"Anyway," I said, deciding to change the subject before Percy's frown could get any deeper, "When's your birthday?"

He laughed. "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "Just asking."

He grinned. "This Sunday. August 18."

_The perfect time to be celebrating if I make it into KMP._

"So, anyway, what's been up with you?' Percy sipped some water.

"Eh, nothing much. Earlier today, the principal called me to his office and gave me something to look after. It wasn't a big deal."

"Hmm. And how do you like the people from MKP? Perhaps your future workmates?"

"They're nice." But they would totally freak to find out that I was using an autotuned mic.

Piper was wrong. This _was_ cheating.

* * *

Rachel

"Luke! Can't you be any stealthier?"

"Sorry, it's the middle of the night and I can't see!"

"No excuses!"

Hopefully, if my plan worked, Annabeth wouldn't be able to go to school tomorrow. And tomorrow was when KMP was announcing who would stay from this evenings auditions and who wouldn't. They would also give out the next set of instructions. Which meant, that Miss-Know-It-All-Chase wouldn't know where to go for Wednesday's auditions.

"OW! You stepped on my foot, Rachel!"

"Watch where you place your hands, then!" We had climbed out the window from my dorm room and we're finding a way to get to Annabeth's window and climb in.

"Why couldn't we just pick the lock of her door?" Luke complained from underneath me. "Everyone else is asleep!"

"Luke, if your ex-girlfriend can climb out of and through windows, so can you. Ooh! And, speak of the devil, here we are!"

I peeked inside the room that I knew was Annabeth's, because Luke had described to me how it looked. Everything was neat and tidy, with stacked up books on her wooden desk and a clean workspace. The walls were a light gray, with sea-foam green swirls and flowers. I gagged.

"Are you going to go in or not?" Luke said grumpily.

"Oh, stop complaining, blockhead." I wrenched (**A/N: HA! Wrenched! High five if you see what I did there! +1 me for wrench puns!**) open the window and climbed inside, not bothering to see whether or not I was stepping on Luke's head. But the loud yell told me all I needed to know.

Annabeth's room smelled like new books and soap. Ugh.

When Luke finally climbed in and shut the window, he collapsed on Annabeth's bed, panting. "That...was...hard."

"You're just weak." I took a good look around the room, searching for anything I liked. After all, I could take whatever I wanted. Annabeth wouldn't be around much longer.

I spotted a pair of golden keys on her desk. I frowned and walked closer. What could they be? They obviously weren't room keys, because I knew what those looked like, and this wasn't it. It was really sharp and was a metallic black, with a flame design painted on.

Why would Annabeth carry a key like _that_?

"I regret this _so_ much. I just want to sleep." Luke rolled off Annabeth's bed and onto the floor.

"Oh, shut it. You know what we came here to do. Now, get out your scissors. It's time to make Annabeth pay."

* * *

Annabeth

"Bye, Percy." I waved at him as he retreated down the stairs. Being the Seaweed Brain and gentleman that he was, he had payed for the food, drove me back to the school, and walked me to my room. I could already feel us getting closer and closer.

I unlocked my room and walked inside, immediately wrinkling my nose. It smelled weird in here. Like...hairspray.

Rachel's hairspray.

But I dismissed the thought that she could've been here. I had nothing valuable.

Since I felt immensely tired, I collapsed into bed without changing, and grabbed my cell phone.

I decided to text Piper. Lucky for me, the little caption thing read, _Piper McLean: Last seen just now. _

I texted her, _Hi._

_Hi,_ she texted back. Our convo went a little something like this.

**A: **_**Piper, I don't think it's a good idea to use this mic. **_

**P:** _**But it's still ur voice, Annie. Not technically cheating.**_

**A: **_**I know, but if I actually do make it into KMP, how am I going to break it to the others?**_

**P: **_**Well, if ur worrying that much, then how about we do this. Record yourself singing on your phone, then send the vid to me. We'll see how it sounds and go from there. **_

**A: **_**And I'm hoping you want me to do this right now? **_

**P: **_**Yea, sure, I think Jason is knocking on my door, tho. Record it and I'll listen to it when he's gone. **_

**A: **_**Thanks, Piper. **_

**P: **_**Anytime, my friend. Anytime.**_

So, I took a deep breath, and went into my camera app. I then hit record.

What to sing?

I sang the first thing that came to my mind.

_We've been here forever_

_And here's the frozen proof_

_I could scream forever _

_We are the poisoned youth_

I was too shaky to sing any more, so I hit end, and sent it to Piper.

I waited for a little bit to see her response, but nothing came. I sighed. Jason was probably flirting with her.

Curiously, I turned on the video I had just taken and clicked play.

Hearing myself sing those four lines in real life was way different than hearing them in my head.

I wasn't bad. My singing was actually pretty good.

That didn't mean I would stop using the microphone, though.

I switched off my phone and tossed it on the ground, closing my eyes on my pillow.

My voice didn't suck. It wasn't bad.

Not bad. Not bad.

* * *

**A/N: D'ya like it? D'ya hate it? I don't know! **

**Now, first thing's first, the sing-off is coming really soon! If not in the next chapter, then definitely in the one after that! **

**Secondly, I have a few shoutout...stuff. Be sure to check them all out! **

**1) What do you think Rachel and Luke did with their scissors? And whose keys do you think Rachel stole (OMG AN ALICIA KEYS SONG JUST STARTED PLAYING AHHH! DIS GIRL IS ON FIIIIIRE!)**

**2) More songs, the usual. **

**3) Wrench puns! Creatively include them and I shall report my reactions**

**4) What song did Annabeth record on her phone?**

**5) And last of all, my absolute favorite;**

**Come up with your very own way of saying Goodbye! **

**Saying Bie is like my thing, so come up with your own, or tell me what you use in real life! (i.e. Cya, Goodbye, Bye, GET OUT! Please leave, etc.)**

**Have a good day! Bie! **

(The rights of the prior statement (Bie) have been reserved to user PrimaPiranha. Duplication of this may result in expulsion from the site. hehe. Sight and Site are homonyms. Is it homonyms or homophones? eh whatever.)


	17. Shredded

**A/N: Yo, what up guys? Faster update this time! And the shoutouts go to: **

**CrazyPeopleLikeMe: OMG lol with the puns. They were good! And great guess with the scissors and keys. They weren't right, but maybe I'll use them in the future evil grin**

**Turtleswag: Kewwwwwwwwwwwwwl. I like that you say it gangster style.**

**amazingunicorn: C'mon, at least **_**try**_ **and be original! That's what an author does, my friend. **

**twilight4ever: LOL with the cutting up books. I can see how she would be angry, but still not the right guess! And thanks for the songs. **

**PunksNotDeadYouAre: Yas. Correct. You officially win….dramatic gasp...A COOKIE! **

**Enjoy the chapter, and stick around for the end to hear some cool stuff.**

* * *

Annabeth

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. _

I jolted awake as my alarm came on. I groaned as I shut it off and swung my legs out of bed. I stayed up way too late last night. But it was worth it.

After Percy and my somewhat romantic dinner, Piper had agreed that my voice wasn't the worst in the world. But she said it needed a lot of tuning, and we didn't have that much time. She also said I would have to continue to use the autotuned microphone if I wanted in to KMP.

Well, if I did get in, we'd figure that out later.

I got up and walked to the bathroom. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and opened my closet door, only to have the biggest heart attack ever.

My _clothes_.

They were all shredded. Every last shirt, skirt, and pair of shorts were lying in pieces on the ground.

"Oh no." I had to say it out loud. "This sucks."

Well, I could always wear what I was wearing last night at dinner….

...Except for the fact that I had worn it to sleep and now it was way too wrinkled, folded, and partially stained from spilling my water to wear outside.

Well, I could grab something out of the dirty laundry. It wasn't _that_ dirty. But when I looked to the spot where my laundry basket usually sat, I saw that there were only shredded clothes inside that too.

"Craapp!" I spent the next twenty minutes scrounging around for something, _anything_ that wasn't ripped to pieces.

Finally, I gave up. My only option now was to wear my curtains to school, which was not happening.

Then, an idea struck me. I dialed Piper's number on my phone, and, thank the Gods, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"PIPER!"

"That's my name. What's up, Annie?"

"Piper, I think Rachel snuck into my dorm last night when Percy and I were out for dinner and now all my clothes are shredded!"

"WHAT?! All of them?!"

"Yes, I looked everywhere, and there's no way I can wear anything to school!"

"Don't worry, girlfriend. I'm coming."

And so she appeared outside my door, ten aggravatingly long minutes later, with a ball of clothes.

"I have to go, classes start in ten minutes, I hope these fit!" Piper waved at me and then ran off. _I_ ran into my bathroom and threw on the clothes, the black jeans, the leather boots, and the leather jacket…..

…..but no shirt.

"PIPER!" I screamed. I ran to the door and pounded on it, but the girl had already left.

Oh crap. Ten minutes until classes would start, and I only had jeans, boots, and a jacket to wear. Plus, a wrinkled blue shirt and jeans that smelled strongly of mexican food. I looked hopelessly at the shreds of fabric on the floor, then ran to my drawers, looking for something, _anything_ that would help me in this situation.

Flashlight? No. Glue stick? No. Dead rose? So _that's_ where that went!

But there was nothing that would help. Only papers, pencils, erasers, a swiss army knife, a needle and thread, and-

Wait. A needle and thread?

When I was young, my mother had taught me how to weave. Sowing couldn't be much different...could it? Plus, our art teacher had taught us how to sow in fifth grade. Of course, I was too busy building a tower with scissors, but that's not the point.

I grabbed the needle, the white thread, and the swiss army knife, then turned back to the bathroom to face the shreds of cloth on the floor.

* * *

Rachel

"See, Luke? _This_ is the sweet feeling of revenge. Do you feel it?" I grinned at Luke as we waited outside the double doors for classes to start. "We won't be seeing Annabeth around, unless she decides to wear some trash around!"

Luke yawned. "I guess."

I rolled my eyes at his lack of enthusiasm. "Anyway, even if she _does_ come up with a miracle, we only have her for our first period, and then not at all until lunch and after." I cackled. "Annabeth-free day, here we come."

First period math felt so amazing without a know-it-all to bother me. The teacher seemed kind of suspicious as to why the middle seat in the front row was empty, but she got over it.

After first period, second period, third period, and fourth period, it was finally lunch. I grabbed my lunch money and skipped happily off to the cafeteria.

I bought two slices of pizza, a soda, and a bag of chips, and was grinning all the way to my table with Luke. Until he pointed out someone coming through the doors.

It was...Annabeth?

She had somehow found a pair of black jeans, black boots, a multicolored shirt, and a black jacket to wear. She was grinning from ear to ear and sat down with her ridiculous friend, Penelope McSchnizzleface.

"How could this _happen_?" I growled at Luke, squeezing my can of soda so hard that the ring tab popped off.

"I don't know," he stammered. "M-maybe that Piper girl lended her some clothes?"

"Impossible! We locked that Piper girl inside her own dorm room after we cut up Annabeth's clothes, just to be sure!"

"Er, maybe we got the wrong dorm?" He shrugged and bit off the top of his cheese stick.

"IMPOSSIBLE! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!"

"Okay, fine then, maybe she has wicked karate skills. Who knows with these people?" Seeing the livid look on my face, he added, "Don't worry, Rach, you'll totally beat her at whatever challenge KMP makes you do tomorrow."

"Oh, I will," I hissed, "Cause that girl has it coming for her."

* * *

Annabeth

"Piper, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU GIVE ME A SHIRT THIS MORNING?!"

"I didn't?" She frowned at me.

I shook my head vigorously.

She laughed nervously. "Hehe. Well, um, at least that shirt looks amaze on you! Where'd you get it?"

"I _made_ it, Piper."

"Oh! That must explain why it's so...um...gorgeous?" She laughed nervously again.

I just shook my head. "You are impossible."

* * *

"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to our KMP female singer competition!" Percy spoke loudly into the microphone as all of the people cheered.

"Now, as you know, not everyone from our _Heartbeat Song_ round was selected for the next stage of the competition, so before I tell you what the next stage _is,_ I am going to announce everyone who has to go."

The cheering turned to nervous muttering as Percy started calling out names. I internally begged for him to call out a Rachel Dare, but unfortunately, she stayed in. And, fortunately, so did I.

Piper squealed and shook my shoulder really hard when he didn't call out my name, and I laughed happily when he moved on to what the next stage was going to be.

"So, now we have about thirty contestants left. Each of you are going to come up here and pick up an address. They're all the same"- he grinned -"so don't worry. Tomorrow, at exactly 7:30 P.M., you will meet us there and we shall have the most amazing challenge ever! There is no specific song for this challenge, but you might want to know a variety of them." He winked. "And also, ten people will be eliminated tomorrow, leaving only twenty people for our last couple of challenges."

He let that settle in, before grinning even wider and saying, "May the odds be ever in your favor, and may the best man win!"

* * *

**A/N: BOOM! Yea! How was that for a chapter? I know the sing-off didn't happen here yet, but it will definitely happen in the next chapter.**

**And if YOU want a shoutout in the next chapter, tell me, what scares you the most? What can you not stop being worried about every single day? And how are you planning on getting over that fear? **

**And I've decided to include a small excerpt from a story I have been working on, with my editor (whose fnfc account is EmpressRey), and my critiquer, who basically hates on everything (amazingunicorn).**

**Here it is:**

* * *

"**Race, you won't….you won't believe…..we got her, we captured her, the one...the one who works….at the monorails….." **

**I frowned. "Which one?" **

"**The Spanish one, the one in contact with Dare, apparently she had just left the second Station to go to Central and was doing her duty at the monorails and we got her, she's in the same chamber as the two government representatives…."**

"**Wait, so you caught the...Spanish, you said? You caught her from Central? The girl who works with Dare?"**

**Lance nodded his head vigorously. "She called me a **_**tonto.**_ **I don't think she's very nice…" **

"**Forget her level of niceness, you said she's in contact with Dare?"**

"**Yes. Three times." **

"**Do you think we could get it out of her? How to get into their hideout?"**

"**I already asked her, and she said 'over her dead body', so….I don't think so." **

"**Then there's only one thing left to do." **

"**What's that?" **

**I turned back around towards my desk, sweeping off all the papers and stepping on them as they fluttered to the ground. I grabbed an old, rusted key that was wedged between the back of the desk and the wall and used it to unlock the very last drawer of the desk. I pulled out a small photograph of some people. There was a boy with black hair, one with red hair, one with brown hair, and a girl with golden hair, and the girl with dark brown hair that was currently tied up in our chamber. And in the very center, being bunny-eared by the gold-haired girl, was Dare.**

_**My sister.**_

"**We just need to wait for them to come to us." I smiled to myself as I stood up and kicked the drawer closed. "Get the girl a glass of water. Make her comfy. Do whatever you have to, just don't let her get away." **

"**Yes, sir." Rhina said, turning away. Lance followed her out, rather excitedly. **

**Slowly, with a dull thudding at the back of my head, I reopened the last drawer and stuck my arm in, pulling out a small, rectangular picture frame. In the light of the moon, I could see the familiar, piercing black eyes and grin of my sister. A spark of longing burst inside me, before it was covered in deep hate and rage.**

**I flung the picture to the corner of the room, where it fell and shattered. The glass flew across the ground, joining the remnants of other old, broken picture frames around it. **

**And each of **_**those**_ **picture frames used to have the same person in it.**

* * *

**So, as you can see, some of it has dark history to it. And by some of it, of course I mean all of it. Tell me what you think!**

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews and all of the people acknowledging the movie reference in chapter nine for Crescendo. ;) #winkyface **

**AND the next time you look at yourself in the mirror, smile and think of what a great person you are, no matter what mistakes you make/made, and no matter how you look. Be yourself and love yourself. **

**G'day! Bie! **


	18. AN

**A/N: FOOLED YOU! **

**HAHA, this chapter isn't completely an author's note. I bet you clicked on this chapter, rolling your eyes and thinking, "This person better have a good excuse for quitting/pausing/postponing the story, or whatever." **

**HAHA, but I just did that to annoy you :) A/N actually stands for… **

**ANNABETH/NEMESIS!**

**That's weird. :/ **

**This **_**is**_ **actually a chapter. :) You're welcome.**

**OMG! It's been forever! Literally, the last time I updated was FIFTEEN days ago! **

**Wow, I suck. **

**Shoutouts go to: **

**Turtleswag **

**twilight4ever **

**a.p**

**If you stalk me, then you know that I've working on a Total Drama story, and that obviously takes a lot of work. Pair that with getting ready for school, updates might be a bit slower, but we're so close to the end! :( **

**Let me know if YOU'RE excited to go back to school again. **

**Hope ya like! :)**

* * *

Annabeth

The address that we were given revealed a run-down factory, burned and rusted on the outside. Piper and I exchanged looks, before heading inside.

Inside, tables were set up in long rows, and people were already sitting down, talking. Large support beams were scattered throughout the floor, and the roof was strangely triangular.

"You think this is the right place?" I asked Piper, marveling at it.

"Well, it's what was on the card. Come on, let's go find a good seat."

We sat in the middle of a table on the side, and waited for about fifteen more minutes until the room was filled with people. Then, I saw Percy climb on top of a table and tap his microphone twice, silencing everyone.

"Hello everyone! So glad you could make it here on this fine day! Er, evening, I should say. Anyway, to start off, everyone who's not part of our KMP music group, please go and stand near the walls."

Amazingly, almost half of the people went to go stand by the walls of the factory.

"Friends and family, probably," Piper muttered to me, and I nodded. She squeezed my shoulder and walked to the wall, because she wasn't competing.

"Now, what we are going to do for this test is a sing-off. Two lucky contestants will battle it off with their microphones, and the rest of the people will split in half and act as backup singers. Keep in mind we will be monitoring _everybody_, so even if you're only a backup dancer, you could still be kicked out. Now, which two people would like to be our lucky contestants?"

About a million hands shot up and started waving frantically.

"How about...Rachel!" Percy said, helping the red-haired girl onto the table. "And then..." His sea-green eyes scanned the crowd before falling on top of me. Our eyes locked for a second, before he cleared his throat and said, "And Annabeth!"

Piper was the one who cheered the loudest, though there were many others. I guess I was more famous than I thought.

So I climbed onto the table by Rachel. She had the meanest of sneers upon her face, and I had a strange urge to smack it.

As Percy divided up the rest of the people for backup singers, Rachel scoffed. "Ready to lose, Wise Girl?"

"If you're ready to start brushing your hair, Merida." I had a strange confidence inside of me, like a raging fire.

She stuck her nose in the air but didn't respond.

When Percy finally finished, he grabbed his microphone again and said, "Okay, ladies! If you've seen Pitch Perfect, you know this is going to be like a riff-off! I will give you a theme, and you have to start singing a song that goes with the theme. You can interrupt each other at any time." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his eyes flash to me and a little smile play across his face. "Good luck. And the first theme is...!" He walked over to Jason, who whispered something in his ear. "Relationships!" Percy announced.

Rachel gave me a wicked smile. "I'll go first, if you don't mind."

I shrugged, tapping my boot on the table.

There was pin drop silence for a few seconds, before she started to sing.

"Dear future husband, here's a few things you need to know if, you want to be my one and only, all my life."

All of her backup singers went, "Awwwwwww,", as part of the song, and she kept singing.

"Take me on a date, I deserve it babe, and don't forget the flowers every anniversary!" Her backup singers were singing and humming along, starting to climb up onto the tables. "Cause if you treat me right, I'll be the perfect wife. Buying groceries. Buy-buying what you need."

I decided to cut her off there, so I raised my voice higher than hers and sang, "My heart's a stereo, it beats for you so listen close, hear my thoughts in every no-o-ote." I smiled as I heard cheers. "Make me your radio, and turn me up when you feel low, this melody was meant for you, so sing along to my stereo."

Rachel stepped forward and sang, "It's been said and done."

There was silence. She didn't continue, her backup dancers didn't catch on, and the audience was confused.

But then she went on. "Every beautiful thought's been already sung. And I guess right now here's another one. So your melody, will play on and on, like the best of 'em." There were whoops for her song choice, and the backup dancers started singing along. "You are beautiful. Like a dream come alive, incredible. A centerfold, miracle, lyrical. You saved my life again. And I want you to know baby—"

I stomped my foot down and sang, "You got that James Dean, daydream, look in your eye; And I got that red lip classic thug that you like, and when we go crashing down we come back everytime, cause we never go out of style, we never go out of st—"

"That doesn't count!" Rachel said loudly, and everyone turned to stare at her. She huffed and said, "That song isn't about relationships!"

"Well, it is." Jason said. "Taylor Swift and her boyfriend are both stylish, bla bla bla. Anyway, the next category is: Songs about breaking up!"

"But there's a twist," Percy added. "This time, you can only use one song the whole round. Keep interrupting each other, but only to finish your one song."

"_I'll _go first this time," I said to Rachel with a smile. Thinking for a second, I finally got it.

Taking a deep breath, I sang, "I remember when we broke up, first time. Saying, "This is it I've had enough," cause like, we hadn't seen each other in a month, when you, needed space. What?" My backup dancers caught on and started singing along. "Then you come around again and say, "Baby, I miss you and I swear I'm gonna change, trust me." Remember how that lasted for a day? I say, "I hate you," we break up, you call me, "I love you.""

Rachel interrupted and sang loudly, "You wanna play, you wanna stay, you wanna have it all! You started messing with my head until I hit a wall!" Whoops, and more singing from backup dancers. "Maybe I shoulda known, maybe I shoulda known, that you would walk, you would walk, out the door. Hey!"

"Oooh, we called it off again last night, but oooh, this time, I'm telling you I'm telling you!" I interjected Demi Lovato with more Taylor Swift. "We, are never, ever, ever, getting back together. We are never ever ever, getting back together. You go talk to your friends talk to my friends talk to me. But we, are never ever ever ever, getting back together. Like, ever."

"Said we were done you met someone and rubbed it in my face! Cut to the punch, she broke your heart, and then she ran away. I guess you shoulda known, I guess you shoulda known, that I would talk, I would talk." And then, the renowned chorus. "But even if the stars, and moon, collide! I never want you back, into, my life! You can take your words, and all, your lies! Oh, oh, oh, I really don't care! Oh, oh, oh, I really don't care!"

"I'm really gonna miss you picking fights, and me, falling for it screaming that I'm right, and you, would hide away and find your peace of mind, with some, indie record that's _much_ cooler than mine." I smiled at Rachel, who was looking at me in disgust. "Oooh, you called me up again tonight, but ooooh, this time, I'm telling you, I'm telling you! We, are never, ever ever, getting back together, we, are never ever ever, getting back together. You go talk to your friends talk to my friends talk to me. But we, are never ever ever ever, getting back together!"

"I can't believe I ever stayed up writing songs about you. You don't deserve to know the way I used to think about you. Oh no not anymore, oh no not anymore. You had your shot, had your shot, but you let go. Now if we meet out on the street I wont be running scared! I'll walk right up to you and put one finger in the air! And make you understand, and make you understand

You had your chance, had your chance!" I tried to interrupt Rachel, but she continued on with the

chorus. After the chorus, though, I was able to interject.

"I used to think, that we, were forever-ever, and I used to say, "Never say never…"" I smiled even wider as Rachel walked closer to me and I walked closer to her. "Ugh, so he calls me up and he's like 'I still love you', and I'm just like… 'I just...I mean, this is exhausting, you know, like, we are never getting back together. Like, ever.' No! We—"

But Rachel cut me off at that. "Yeah, listen up. Hey, hey, never look back. Dumbstruck boy, ego intact. Look, boy, why you so mad? Second guessing you shoulda hit that! Hey, Demi, you picked the wrong lover, you should've picked that one he's cuter than the other. I just wanna laugh, cause you tryna be a hipster. Kick it to the curb take a polaroid picture. But even if the—"

"We are never ever ever getting back together. We are never ever ever getting back together. You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me. But we are never ever ever ever getting back together!"

And she finished with her chorus.

"Great job, guys," Percy said, grinning from ear to ear. "And we have one last category. Songs about: Confidence! And the twist doesn't count for this one, so you can keep switching songs. And, go!"

Rachel went first this time. "I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath, scared to rock the boat and make a mess. So I sat quietly; agreed politely. I guess that I forgot I had a choice, I let you push me past the breaking point. I stood for nothing; so I fell for everything."

I cut her off. "You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug. You can be an outcast, or be the backlash, of somebody's lack of love. Or you can start speaking up."

Rachel jumped, and she landed with a loud clang, silencing me. Then she started, "You were walkin' on the moon, and now you're feeling low. What they said wasn't true, you're beautiful. Sticks and stones, break your bones, I know what you're feeling. Words like those, won't steal your glow; you're one in a million!" Even the audience started singing along to this one. "This, this is for all the girls; boys all over the world, whatever you've been told, you're worth more than gold!"

But then I grinned and sang, "You know the bed feels warmer, sleeping here alone." Cheers and hoots. "You know I dream in color, and do the things I want." And then, I started dancing.

It was fun, it truly was. My backup dancers started singing and dancing too. "You think you got the best of me, you think you had the laugh. Bet you think that everything good is gone; think you left me broken down, think that I'd come running back. Baby you don't know me cause' you're dead wrong." And then I jumped, high, and the moment my boots hit the table, I sang the chorus. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Stand a little taller, doesn't mean I'm lonely, when I'm alone. What does—"

Rachel glared and sang over me. "You made me insecure, told me I wasn't good enough. But who are you to judge, when you're a diamond in the rough? I'm sure you got some things you'd like to change about yourself. But when it comes to me, I wouldn't want to be anybody else." And her backup dancers sang the annoying part.

"Na na na na na na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na na na na na na!"

Rachel smirked. "I'm no beauty queen, I'm just beautiful me

"Na na na na na na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na na na na na na!"

"You've got every right, to a beautiful life, C'mon." And the audience started singing along again. "Who says, who says you're not perfect? Who says you're not worth it? Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'? Trust me, that's the price of beauty, who says you're not pretty? Who says you're not beautiful? Who says—"

I battled her lyrics with a famous song of my own. "She's just a girl and she's on fire, hotter than a fantasy, lonely like a highway." Roars of approval from the crowd. "She's livin' in a world and it's on fire, feeling the catastrophe, but she know she can fly away. Ohhhhhhhhh, she got both feet on the ground, and she's burnin' it down! Ohhhhhhh, she got her head in the clouds, and she's not backing' down."

A silence, that seemed to last forever. Then—

"THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE!" Everyone was singing along now, even Rachel's backup dancers! Rachel just snarled at me, then started a song of her own.

"Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag. Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again? Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin? Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?" She started dancing too. "Do you ever feel, already buried deep, six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing? Do you know that there's, still a chance for you, cause there's a spark in you. You just gotta ignite, the light, and let, it shine! Just own, the night! Like the fourth of July! Cause baby you're a firework! Come on show em' what you're worth! Make em' go "Oh! Oh! Oh!" You're gonna leave em' falling down-own-own!"

She continued with her song, and suddenly, the confidence that I had had before diminished. What was I thinking? Battling in a sing-off against Rachel? She was clearly winning.

I saw Percy staring at me. I tried not to stare back.

Rachel stopped halfway through her song, breathing hard.

"Going brain-dead, Chase?" She smirked. The whole factory was silent, for a few moments, and I was just looking at all of the staring faces of people, and I was nervous, and scared, and had no idea what to do.

But then, a song came to me.

"Like a small boat, on the ocean. Sending big waves, into motion. Like how a single word, can make a heart open." My backup singers didn't accompany me this time. It was just me and my microphone. "I might only have one match, but I can make an explosion."

I paused for a second, before seeing Percy nod slightly at me.

I took a deep breath and continued. "And all those things I didn't say, wrecking balls inside my brain. I will scream out loud tonight, can you hear my voice this time?"

There was another pause. I saw Piper watching me with a wide smile and glittering eyes. She nodded slightly as well.

"This is my fight song! Take back my life song! Prove I'm alright song! My power's turned on, starting right now I'll be strong." People were already starting to sing along, Rachel's backup dancers too! Again! "I'll play my fight song, and I don't really care if nobody else believes." I smiled a little. "Cause I've still got, a lot of fight left in—"

"STOP!" Rachel shouted at the top of her lungs. We all fell silent, and all heads turned to her.

After what seemed like forever, she pointed a shaking hand at me.

"Her microphone," she said, snarling. "She's using it to cheat. Just check it!"

Jason frowned, and was about to climb onto the table to check my mic, and I was sure my life was about to end.

But, just then, a fire alarm came on.

All attention from me vanished and people started evacuating. I saw Piper standing right next to the fire alarm.

I breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed, _Thanks._

She gave me a thumbs-up and ran out the door with everyone else. Without turning to look at Percy, I ran and followed.

* * *

**A/N: KA-BLAM! **

**I know that took forever:) Sorry. **

**If YOU want a shoutout in the next chapter, list every song that you know that either Rachel or Annabeth sang!**

**Thanks fo readin'! **

**Bie! **


	19. The Wrath (Part 1)

**A/N: Shoutouts go to: **

**TheFallenAce15**

**lucybubblychase**

**ChryssieCullen **

**Turtleswag **

**Lizzy Dane **

**a.p. **

**And Happy Birthday twilight4ever! (Thx so much for reminding me of this story...it's been forevs...anyway, KOTLC rocks! Been thinking of writing a fnfc for it but...i'm not sure...what other fandoms do u like?)**

* * *

Annabeth

Well, it wasn't a complete fail.

I still had my microphone that thankfully, Jason didn't expose to the entire world.

But the guilt was eating me alive.

"Miss Chase, I asked you a question!"

My head snapped up. "Wh-what?"

"What organelle separates the chromosomes from the cytoplasm in a cell?"

My mind went on autopilot. "The nucleus."

"Thank you."

After class, I texted Piper to meet me in the bathroom before lunch. After three excruciatingly long periods, I quickly rushed to the girls bathroom.

Piper had made it there first, and was adjusting her hair in the mirror, singing a little tune.

"Hey," I said when I got in. "You're a pretty good singer."

She laughed. "Thanks. I was in varsity choir in middle school. So what'd you want to talk about?"

I told her about my guilt of using the microphone.

She sighed. "Well, the last audition is tomorrow, and that's when they're going to pick the female singer. If you get picked, then you cans tell them the truth."

"But that could ruin everything!" I groaned. "Piper, this was an awful idea. I never should've cheated my way into KMP!"

"Hey. Just go to auditions tomorrow and see what happens. If you don't get picked, then you won't have to worry about any of this."

I gulped. "But the whole reason why I entered was to win!"

"Well, we'll just have to see, then."

* * *

Rachel

Okay. Some people think I eavesdrop. Big the truth is, I'm just always in the right place at the right time. I mean wrong place! At the wrong time!

I was just in the girls bathroom, minding my own business, when I heard the door open and someone come in. Peeking under the door of the stall, I saw Miss-I'm-So Pretty come in. And she was singing.

A thought struck me. What if Penelope was actually singing _for_ Annabeth? Maybe that's why it always sounded so good!

But when said person walked into the bathroom with Penelope, I decided not to assume things and listen.

Their conversation was very interesting, all right. Especially the part about an autotuned microphone...

* * *

Luke

"Hey, Percy."

The raven-haired boy turned to look at me. I could see him tense as he realized it was me.

"'Sup, Luke?"

"Oh, nothing much. Haven't seen you in a while. How's KMP?"

"Oh, it's pretty good. I kind of miss this place though."

"Mmm. That's sad, because you won't be here much longer."

He frowned. "Why not?"

I smirked. "Isn't it obvious? Your female singer is going to be Rachel, and she's already part of your group."

"Who says it's going to be Rachel?" Percy said defiantly.

"Pfft. Who's better than her?"

"I don't know, Annabeth maybe?"

"Her? Nah. She has a little secret she's not sharing with you."

"What?"

"Ha. See you later." With that, I walked away like a boss.

* * *

Annabeth

The last audition was going to be held in the cafeteria. The challenge was that we had to sing a slow song perfectly against one other person. After many private meetings, the KMP representatives had narrowed the people down to ten, including Rachel and I.

First, I went against a girl who was taller and bulkier than me. She decided to sing Stay With Me by Sam Smith, which I honestly found annoying. Her voice cracked on a line of the song, making her lose against my auto tuned microphone when I sang Jar of Hearts.

And then there were five.

Rachel was automatically pulled to the final two, because, bias.

I was now against someone I recognized. It was Silena Beauregard, one of the prettiest, most popular girls in the school.

Too bad me and my microphone beat her with "Wildest Dreams." against "Love Me Like You Do."

And then there were three. Me against a frail little girl, and then Rachel, smirking at me from the sidelines.

What was she so happy about?

The frail little girl was actually a pretty good singer. She sang "Human", and I sang "Part of That World". Obviously, I won.

And then. Me and Rachel. Rachel and I, whatever!

She readied her microphone when it was her turn, and started to sing.

"Can you feel the love tonight, the peace the evening brings?"

I found it extremely weird that she was doing a Disney song like I had done, and I found it even weirder that she had started at the chorus.

Well, two could play at that game.

When it was my turn:

"Sing with me now! Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my oh my! Look at the boy to shy, he ain't gonna, kiss the girl."

And my song finished smoothly.

But Rachel had had this devious smile on her face the whole time, which made me wonder if the autotune had been turned off on the microphone while I had been singing.

"Good luck, Rachel," I said to be a good sport.

She scoffed. "I don't need _luck_. These kinds of things takes skill."

I rolled my eyes.

"_Skill that you don't naturally possess_."

"Wait, what?"

"Nothing!" She smiled happily.

"Alright, contestants!" Percy walked up to where we were performing with a poker face. "After much consideration, the judges have finally decided who will be KMP's new female singer. And it is..."

I watched him in anticipation. His lips started to form an A, or maybe it was an R, but it looked like an A, oh I had kissed those lips before...focus, Annabeth, focus!

But I never girl figure out wich letter Percy was going to announce because Rachel had something of her own to announce.

She smiled graciously at us all after stomping her foot to catch our attention. "I have something to say."

My heart instantly started beating faster.

"My friend Annabeth, here, has a little...ah..._secret_ she's been keeping from you all."

_Oh no. _

Percy's mouth curved into a frown and he avoided my eyes as he said, "What is it?"

Rachel smirked and said, excruciatingly slowly, "She's been cheati—"

"SHUT UP!"

A voice came out of nowhere, and it took me a moment to realize it was mine.

"Look," I said, finding some hidden confidence inside of me. "Yes. It's true. I've been cheating. My normal voice doesn't sing as well as this autotuned microphone makes it sound."

There was a collective gasp, and all the color had drained from Percy's face.

"It wasn't just her," came a voice from behind me. "It was me as well." Piper climbed onto the stage, standing by me.

"And me and my friend Luke helped crack their case," Rachel crossed her arms and smirked.

"Well, both of you risked my life while doing it," I glared at them.

"It was _your _fault for cheating."

"You tried to sabotage me in _so _many ways!"

And soon, it was a fighting match.

I was yelling at Rachel, Piper was yelling at Jason, Percy was yelling st Luke (who had been standing in a corner the whole time), and it was utter chaos.

Until a voice yelled, "STOP!"

Standing in the doorway of the cafeteria was...

**A/N: What? Who is this person? What is this story? What is the meaning of life? **

**Yeah, I know, it's been forever. And by forever, I mean almost 40 days! That's like five weeks! **

**Please, never be afraid to PM/review that I suck because I haven't been updating because usually, I just forget. **

**Thanks for reading, if you're still reading. **

**Anyway, if YOU want to be famous in the next chapter, tell me who you think was standing in the doorway of the cafeteria. Also, how many of these songs that the people sang did you know? **

**Hope to see u soon! Bie!**


	20. The Wrath (Part 2)

**A/N: I decided to give shoutouts to everyone who was a sweetheart to me, not just the people who left an answer to a shout out for that last chapter: **

**BBfunny778 (Aww! :))**

**CrazyPeopleLikeMe (Aww! :))**

**twilight4ever (Dude! I feel like you and I would be great friends. Get an account on this website, and we can PM each other. And KOTLC is the best yaa. Can't wait for Neverseen.) **

**PercyjacksonRxs (Aww! :))**

**Guest (Aww! :))**

**Lizzy Dane (Aww! :)) **

**Guest (Glad you think it's 'sorta interesting'. I know it's pretty jumpy, but hey. If da people like it, you can't argue wiv da people kayyyy?) **

**Guest (You just read my mind, dude. You rock.) **

**a.p**

**Jorja Russel (Luv ya too! :))**

**Olympian and Wizard (:D)**

**PixieBlonde (Thanks so much. It really means a lot to me :))**

**lightningscarsandbluepancakes (Amazing pen name. :))**

**everythingisblue (Amazing pen name as well! Glad you liked it!) **

**Heyyyyyyyyy. What up fam? **

**Yes, yes, I know it has been le forever, but I just want to let you know that I have been reading all of your reviews and am so happy that so many people like this story. **

**But to be honest, this story is really bad. Like, I'm not even saying this to fish for compliments, but my writing skill is way higher than this. I need to work harder. **

**But you like it, so I'm good! **

**I have some special announcements at the end, so be sure to check those out. **

**Now, READ!**

* * *

Annabeth

"Principal Aphrodite?" Rachel said incredulously.

"That is me," the woman said gracefully. She was a tall, elegant lady with flowing golden hair and a deep purple suit. "Now, what are we fighting about?"

"She cheated!" Rachel screeched, pointing at me.

"She tried to kill me with sabotage!" I yelled, pointing at her.

"They're making a joke out of our program!" Jason pointed at us.

"They all lied!" Percy said, pointing at all of us.

"They're all crazy!" Luke jabbed his fingers at us.

"Okay," Aphrodite said calmly. "Just come to my office and we can figure this out."

So we followed her, out of the room, glaring at each other all the way. Piper went up front to walk with her mom.

When we finally reached her office, she sat down and immediately picked up a mirror, fixing her hair and dabbing at her eyes. After a few minutes, though, she turned to us.

"Now, why don't you try and sort this out yourself and then tell me what your composed stories are?"

We all broke out into an argument.

"How could you?" Percy said to me. "How could you cheat?"

"I thought you would understand," I said. "That I had to."

"_Why?!" _He said exasperatedly.

"Because," I said, tears coming to my eyes, "I was always the lone girl who moved here. The boring girl who was so smart that no one wanted to be her friend. The girl who hated music and was the teacher's pet and who no one liked and I _hated_ it. And then I saw you and we became friends and then you left. You were all I ever had here and you just left for your stupid music career and I was all alone and when you came back—I had a chance to join you. But I sucked. So I had to!"

"But you still cheated!" Rachel shrieked. "You dirty liar, I would've beaten you all along!" She turned on Luke. "And _you!_ You filthy animal, you can never do anything right, can you? You just fall in love with stupid little blond girls and never pay attention to what you're doing or _anything!_"

Jason was now fighting with Percy. "Dude, how could you not figure out she was cheating? This is awful! Our whole music career will be shamed!"

"Not necessarily," Percy said nervously.

As they were all fighting with each other, I turned to Piper.

"Piper," I said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. I hope we can still be friends."

She smiled a little. "Of course we can."

"STOP!" Principal Aphrodite yelled, and everyone quieted down. "Now, I want to hear the whole story."

Rachel opened her mouth, but Percy beat her to it. "I think Annabeth should be the one explaining. This started from her."

So, I took a deep breath and told them everything.

I told them how I had moved here and met Percy, and how we had become more than friends, but how he had become obsessed with Rachel—he hung his head at that part.

I told them about KMP, and about Piper and Rachel's sabotage, and Luke and all of the crazy things that had happened.

"Huh," Aphrodite said when we had finished. "Well, now I know what has to be done."

We all blinked. Rachel said, "Really?"

She nodded. "You, Rachel Dare, are hereby expelled from the KMP and are not allowed to return."

She gasped loudly. "WHAT?! WHY?!"

"You tried to _kill_ young Annabeth here. Or rather, you put her in life-threatening situations. You are lucky I am not kicking you out of this school, or turning you into the police."

"What about me?" I said, ignoring Rachel's shrieks of agony.

"Well, I'll leave your punishment up to the KMP group to decide. I doubt they'd want you as their singer anymore, though." She laughed. "Dismissed."

* * *

We all sat outside of the school, on the steps, except for Rachel, who was having a temper tantrum by kicking a tree, and Luke, who was trying to comfort her.

"Now what?" Percy said hopelessly. "This sucks."

"I know," Jason said glumly. "I know."

"Hey," Piper said. "Be a little sensitive. Annabeth's been through a lot."

I sighed. "No, it's fine. I mean, I knew I wasn't very good at singing from the start. The only thing that's remotely musical about me is that—well, nothing, actually. I used to take guitar lessons at the beginning of the year, but—"

"WAIT!" Piper exclaimed loudly, so loud that people stopped to stare at her.

She laughed nervously. "Anyway, I HAVE THE BEST IDEA EVER!"

"What?" Percy said glumly.

"You need a female singer, right?"

Jason nodded.

"I'll be it! I've been taking voice lessons since forever, and I'll show you what I can do if you want."

"That's great," I said, smiling at her.

"Oh, I know!" Piper beamed. "But the next part of the plan is even better."

"What?" Percy said again, with more interest this time.

"Now that Rachel's kicked out of KMP, you need a guitarist, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Guess who's been taking guitar lessons since the beginning of the year?"

* * *

**A/N: WHOOOOOOA. **

**Guess what just got 100% more awesome? **

**DIS STORY SON! **

**Anyway, let me know if you liked it, and if you want a shoutout in the next chapter/if you want to help me out: **

**1) How do you like the story? Why do you like it? Do I suck? Do I not suck? Que pasa?**

**2) Because this story might be coming to an end soon, let me know if you want to see a short excerpt of one I have coming up soon. This will help me out a lot. **

** 3) Who is your favorite Disney Villain? **

**See ya soon, I hope! Biiie! **


	21. Blehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

**A/N: Hey guys! **

**I'm so, **_**so**_ **sorry for this, but this isn't a chapter! And don't worry, I'm not here to say I'm discontinuing the story. I actually need help. BADLY! **

**I need to enter something for school by this Friday for a project, and we've known about this project since last year, and I haven't even written anything! I'm suffering a severe case of writer's block at the worst possible time. **

**All I need from you guys is some inspiration. I need to figure things out and have my entry perfect by Friday. I'm so sorry this isn't a chapter, but if you guys help me out here, I swear on the Styx I'll post an extra-long chapter next time. **

**I don't care what you send me, from quotes you think were crazy to links of pictures or whatever, I just need help! Anything and everything is welcome! **

**Thank you to everyone who's going to help and who's not going "wtf" right now. I really appreciate it. **

**I hope I get inspired! **

**Love, **

**PrimaPiranha **


	22. The Party

**A/N: Shoutouts go to: **

**EVERYONE I LOVE YOU ALL! **

**Thanks so much to those of you who gave me inspiration from that last chapter. I was able to submit two beautiful pieces after reading quotes, listening to images, and battling people's ignorance. So thanks to everyone who even bothered to review. **

**So, here is the super-long chapter I promised you guys. It took FOREVER to write, but is longer than most of my other chapters, so I hope you like it!**

**Also, as a side note, I listened to Taylor Swift's "Enchanted" while writing this, so I encourage you to do the same. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Annabeth

"Everything has just changed so much." I plucked a leaf off of a branch of the tree I was sitting in. Percy was sitting next to me, staring at the sky.

"I know. It's been good and bad." Percy stuck a leaf in his mouth.

"Do you think Sebastian will really agree with Principal Aphrodite and kick Rachel out to let me and Piper in?"

"I don't know. Sebastian doesn't really like you."

I sighed and rested my head against the tree. I was such a failure.

"Are you mad at me?" I found myself asking him.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"How could you not be mad at me? I've lied to you, and hooked up with Luke, and then cheated your program. I've ruined your life."

"Hey." Percy looked me in the eye. "It's not like I haven't ruined _your_ life either. Think about it. I befriended you, then ditched you for Rachel, and then left for KMP. Plus, I almost got you expelled."

My eyes widened. "What? How?"

"Er…" Percy scratched the back of his head. "When me and Rachel were still hanging out together, we may or may not have stolen some stuff and blamed it on you when the principal confronted us."

"Oh." I frowned. It was a miracle Principal Aphrodite hadn't mentioned it to me.

"Whatever. I think we're even now." He shook some hair out of his eyes.

We sat together in silence for a few minutes, before he turned to me with a huge smile and said, "I love you, you love me, we are up here in this tree, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?"

"You literally spent the last couple of minutes to come up with that, didn't you?"

"Maybe. Pretty good though, right?"

"I guess." And when I glanced into his sea green eyes, I found myself lost in them. I had never seen a shade quite like that. And then he leaned closer to me, and I leaned closer to him, and I closed my eyes-

"Hey! Lovebirds!" We both suddenly opened our eyes, almost falling out of the tree. Jason and Piper were standing underneath it, grinning. "Aphrodite and Sebastian are ready for us."

We exchanged a wide-eyed glance, before jumping out of the tree and heading back towards the school. In the distance, I could see the shapes of Rachel and Luke going there too.

Huh.

"I still can't believe you're not mad at me at all." I shook my head in disbelief as we walked.

"Hey. When you love somebody, it's what you do. You forgive and forget."

_You forgive, you forget, but you never let it go. _

As we approached Aphrodite's office, I realized just how nervous I was. If I didn't make it in, I would be shamed for cheating, I would never see Percy or Piper again, and all of this trouble would have been for nothing.

Aphrodite's face was rather neutral as we walked into her office. Sebastian was standing behind him, his blue streaked hair clashing with his deep frown. Rachel was fuming in the corner next to Luke, who had his arms crossed.

"Students," Aphrodite said, still sporting her poker face, "Sebastian and I have come to an agreement over what the fate of KMP shall be. And we have decided that Piper Mclean can be its new singer. And," she sighed, "Annabeth Chase, if you practice hard enough, you will be allowed to join in as KMP's new guitar player, because Rachel Elizabeth Dare has been kicked out."

Rachel was speechless. She was just standing by the wall, face red as her hair.

Meanwhile, Piper and I were cheering. So what if we sounded like pigs?

This was going to be amazing!

But, to be formal in front of Sebastian, I cleared my throat and said, very politely, "Thank you. I will be sure to practice as hard as I can, and I will not let KMP down."

With a small smile, Sebastian nodded.

"Now, Annabeth," Aphrodite said. "You mentioned that Rachel had stolen some things from you? Has she returned them all?"

I thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Yeah, I have everything back."

"Oh yeah?" Rachel sneered at me. "Then whose are these?" She held up a pair of keys, painted with bright orange flames.

"Those would be mine," a deep voice said from behind us.

We all turned to see a burly bald man with sunglasses crossing his arms in the doorway of the office.

I gaped. The man was Ares, Aphrodite's boyfriend.

"I can't believe you stole that from me!" I tried not to raise my voice at Rachel. Meanwhile, her face had gone white at the sight of Ares.

"I'll take these," he said, snatching his keys out of her hand. He gave Aphrodite a quick kiss. "I'll be back for the party. It's at seven, you said?"

"That's right, honey. I'll see you then." With that, Aphrodite waved her boyfriend away.

"Yes," Sebastian said. "There is a party as seven tonight. It is to celebrate our new group of KMP participants, which are you guys."

"A party? I love parties!" Jason grinned.

"Yep. It'll be you four, plus your other mates from this school. The party's at some kind of convention center or something. I'll send you the address."

"Sound great. Now, you four better get going. I need to have a chat with these two." Aphrodite jabbed her thumb at Rachel and Luke.

When we had left, all four of us hugged and high-fived and cheered. Then, Piper pushed the boys away.

"We need to get ready," she said sternly.

Percy gaped at her. "But the party's in _six_ hours!"

"It takes time, Percy!"

Jason rolled his eyes and pulled Percy away.

* * *

Piper had _way_ too many dresses.

"I'm sorry this is so unorganized," Piper threw a huge stack of jeans to the side to make room for us to enter her walk in closet, which was bigger than the kitchen downstairs. Shirts and skirts and dresses and shoes were scattered everywhere.

"This really is going to take six hours," I mumbled.

In the end, though, Piper picked out a spiky, deep green dress that went well with her eyes and complimented her choppy hair. For me, we picked out a bright, dark blue greek-style dress, that Piper had apparently never worn before because the price tag was still attached. Luckily, a size small fit me.

She apparently was the master at styling hair as well, because after she put my hair into a bun, I looked like a whole new person.

"You look beautiful," Piper said, smiling.

"You always look beautiful," I told her.

"I get it from my mom."

The boys were waiting outside of Piper's house, both wearing dashing tuxedos. Percy's tie was sea-green, and Jason's was electric blue. Percy was trying to get a part of Jason's hair to stay flat, but to no avail. By the time we reached them, they had already given up.

"Wow," Percy said, eyes sparkling, "You look beautiful."

Somehow, it was different when he said it instead of Piper. I felt myself blush in the late evening sun.

Piper laughed. "So where's our ride, boys?"

"Sebastian said he would send a limo to this address. It should be here soon." Jason checked his watch and turned to look down the street.

"So," Percy said. "Did it hurt?"

"Did...what hurt?" I frowned.

"When you fell from Olympus, because Gods, you are an angel."

I rolled my eyes. "Percy, angels are technically dead people."

His jaw dropped. "It was a compliment! You're as beautiful as a dead person!"

"And dead people are beautiful?"

"Well...most of them. I bet you'd still be beautiful when you're dead." His face flushed.

Yeah, he wasn't the best at this.

The limo arrived soon after, and we all climbed in. It left right away.

"Let me try," I said, clearing my throat. "On a scale of one to ten, you're a nine and I'm the one you need."

He laughed. "That's a good one."

"Hey, I've got one." Jason turned towards us. "I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together."

Piper laughed loudly. "Jason, that was awful!"

He smirked. "Really? I'd like to see you do better."

"Oh, it's on." She grinned. "Are you a campfire? Cause you're hot and I want s'more."

Percy burst out laughing and I giggled. "Piper, I'd date you if you said that to me."

Piper saluted me. "Thank you."

"How about this," Percy said, " You don't need keys to drive me crazy."

"Oh, nice one!"

And we went on, telling each other crazy pick up lines as the limo got closer and closer to the convention center.

"We have arrived," the limo driver told us when we arrived.

"Thanks," Jason said as we climbed out.

The convention center was huge on the outside, and was illuminated in golden as the sun hit it. I held onto Percy's arm as we walked inside, but Piper was too busy marveling at the beauty to hold onto Jason, who was struggling to keep up with her quick pace.

Cold AC air hit us as we entered the center. The party was apparently at the tenth floor of the center, so we hurried into an elevator with several other people.

"Excited?" Percy asked me.

I nodded. I was finally part of the KMP. And a party was just what I needed.

When the elevator reached the floor, my jaw dropped to the floor.

It was beautiful.

Polished, smooth floors were home to large tables of concessions and small fog machines, and a black dance floor was in the center. Golden and black balloons decorated the place, and a large platform was overlooking the whole room above near some stairs. Light music was playing as more and more guests arrived.

And as more and more guests arrived, I noticed two very familiar people.

I nudged Percy. "Look who it is." He turned to see Rachel in a long black dress, and Luke in a casual black tuxedo. "I heard they hooked up."

He gritted his teeth. "Just ignore them. Let's have fun at this party."

"Hello people!" A voice came from the large balcony overlooking the auditorium. We all turned our heads, and there I saw the most beautiful girl in the world.

Her hair was silky black, styled over her head in a bun, falling down like a waterfall. Her eyes were an icy brown, and her dress was long and A bluish-green. There was a specific name for that color. It was—

"Jade!" Sebastian walked towards the four of us. "That's my daughter."

"She's beautiful," Piper said.

"Thank you for coming, everyone." Jade grinned at all of us. "I just want to say what an honor it has been to be a part of the Kentucky Music Program. My wonderful father, Sebastian Cray, is the one to thank for this amazing party, as well as all of my knowledge of music. But enough about me! How are you guys?" The large crowd of people that was slowly forming started to cheer.

"So enjoy this party! I'll see you guys down there!" With that, Jade waved and turned away from the balcony.

"Is your wife here?" Piper asked Sebastian, looking around.

Sebastian ground his teeth together. "Um, no. She left us a very long time ago."

Jason gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"No," Sebastian said. "She left us for another man."

"Oh." Piper frowned. "Well, it's her loss. She doesn't know what she's missing."

Sebastian smiled. "Thanks. Now, you kids go have fun. It is a party, after all."

Apparently, 'go have fun' was the equivalent of Jason chasing Piper through the concessions and Percy and I conversing by the concessions.

"So...it finally happened." Percy grinned. "You and I will be together forever now."

I smirked. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. You still haven't heard my guitar skills yet."

"I don't need to. I know they're going to be amazing. Just like you." He smiled, and my heart melted.

I felt so lucky at that moment.

Percy laughed a little, and leaned closer to me. I instinctively leaned closer to him, and he was about to close his eyes when I stumbled and fell on top of him. He staggered back for a second, before laughing and giving me a hug instead. "I love you, Wise Girl."

"Really?"

"Really."

"That's bad for you, because I'm loving these concessions more." I turned away from him and looked over the several bowls of multicolored punch, large varieties of chips and dips and basically, every appetizer ever served at any restaurant. Ever.

Both of us were already at required age to consume alcohol, so Percy grabbed a beer for himself and handed me one, too.

"This is how it was supposed to be two years ago," his eyes sparkled. "_We_ were supposed to drink together. Not me and Rachel; not you and Luke. Just me and you."

We clinked our glasses together, and took to watching Piper throw chips in Jason's face as he tried to tickle her. They were both laughing and having such a good time. They were so lucky they had met in the hotel the day Rachel had hit me with that wrench.

_And I was so lucky I had met Percy the day his music was too loud_.

"Remember that day you came down to complain about our music?" Percy asked, practically reading my thoughts.

I nodded. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"Are you kidding? I would never have seen those amazing grey eyes if you hadn't complained."

I chuckled, remembering our pick-up-line battle from earlier. "Your eyes are blue, like the ocean, and I'm lost at sea."

He grinned. "Annabeth, my eyes are green."

I rolled my eyes. "Way to be appreciative."

A few moments passed, before Percy looked at me and said, "You owe me a drink."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because you made me drop mine."

I shook my head at him. "Am I _that_ ugly?"

"Wow." He shook his head, mimicking me. "Way to be appreciative."

Our flirting eventually carried itself out to the balcony. The stars were out already, and gusts of wind swirled around us as we leaned on the rail.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "You are one of a kind."

"Percy," I replied, "You are one of an unkind."

He laughed way harder than he should've at that joke.

I rolled my eyes. But after he had stopped laughing, we found ourselves wrapped in silence. It caused chills to roll down my spine, and the wind wasn't helping.

But, after anxiously waiting for something to happen, Percy put his almost empty beer bottle on the ground and turned towards me. "Can we try that kiss again?"

And so we did. It had been forever since I had been wrapped up in his arms.

It had been forever since I had felt real love.

* * *

_There I was again tonight_

_Forcing laughter, faking smiles_

_Same old tired lonely place_

_Walls of insincerity,_

_Shifting eyes and vacancy_

_Vanished when I saw your face_

_All I can say is, it was enchanting to meet you_

_Your eyes whispered, "Have we met?"_

_Across the room your silhouette_

_Starts to make its way to me_

_The playful conversation starts_

_Counter all your quick remarks_

_Like passing notes in secrecy_

_And it was enchanting to meet you_

_All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you_

_This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you_

* * *

Jade

Nobody cared.

Sure, I had made my amazing speech in front of everyone, but now I was just another face in the crowd. It felt so weird to be alone. I was used to surrounding myself with other people at my school, but everything was starting to change.

I decided to stand in a corner near one of the smaller concession tables in a corner of the auditorium. I resisted the urge to grab a cookie off of it.

Little did I know, someone else had also been standing near it.

"Nice party, huh?"

I turned to see a boy with short blond hair and blue eyes. He was smirking at me and leaning against the wall.

"Um, yeah." I responded awkwardly.

"I heard you give that speech up there. Why aren't you with your KMP cronies?"

"Cronies? There are no cronies. I don't know anyone here."

"Nobody?" Something changed in his expression, but I couldn't tell what it was. "Not even Percy or Annabeth?"

"Who?"

"Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. They're the talk of KMP." He pointed to a couple on the dance floor, moving perfectly in time with each other. The girl was beautiful, with golden curls and dark eyes, and the boy had raven hair and an odd eye color-bright green.

"I think I heard some names like that. Annabeth's a newbie, right?"

"Yeah."

The truth was, I had heard of the girl before. I had actually been instructed to do something about her, but I couldn't. I just couldn-

"I'm Luke, by the way."

"Jade. But you already knew that."

He smiled-a true, genuine smile. "I like you, Jade."

"Pfft. You barely even know me." But that didn't stop butterflies from flying around in my stomach when he winked at me.

"I'd love to get to know you more." He grabbed a cookie off of the concession table and popped it in his mouth.

And then it turned into a kind of share-fest. He was telling me about how everyone pretty much hated him, but how he was misunderstood because of a hard childhood. His mom, May, had gone crazy after a freak car accident, and his father, Hermes, barely did anything about it. He was always a very snappish person after that. And I was telling him about how everyone always looked at me like I was a waste of space-like the reject prize on a TV show. My mother, Hecate, had left my father for some magician, and since then, we were alone. I was sometimes rude and angry and sarcastic, but other times very peppy and enthusiastic.

He laughed. "Like split personalities."

I shrugged. "Kind of."

The song that was playing ended abruptly, and a new song came on. It was too fast-paced to be a slow song, but not fast enough to twirl around to.

In short, it was perfect.

Luke smiled at me, all signs of his cocky smirk gone. "May I have this dance?"

I felt my face flush. "Um, sure."

And then we were on the dance floor, and we were moving at a steady rhythm to the beat of the song. I found myself actually enjoying it.

When the chorus came on for the second time, though, and Luke spun me around, I noticed a stick-thin figure stalking into the auditorium.

Oh. _No._

"Um, I'll be right back." I pulled away from Luke, who looked completely dumbfounded, and walked up to the stick-thin man.

"Mr. Dare would like to see you." He said in a monotonous voice.

So, frowning, I followed him out of the auditorium and into the corridor, eventually walking inside of a large office. At a desk in the middle, a man with rusty brown hair and green eyes sat, examining his fingernails. When he come in, he gave me a wide smile, but it was dripping with insincerity.

"Ah, Jade, my darling. How are you?"

"Forget that. Why did you call me here?"

"Hmm. Why did I call you here? Well, first, have a seat." He gestured to the chair at the desk with his fake smile, but his eyes told me I didn't have a choice. So, sighing, I took a seat.

Mr. Dare took a sip out of a large coffee thermos. "Jade, I gave you a job a few days ago, did I not?"

"Yeah, you did."

"And what was that job?"

I gulped. "It was to-"

"It was to sabotage Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, and Jason Grace so that my daughter and her boyfriend could join instead." He interrupted me without a care.

I frowned. "Wait-who's her boyfriend?"

Mr. Dare waved his hand. "It doesn't matter. What does matter, is the fact that you haven't tried to sabotage them at all yet."

"Mr. Dare, I _can't._ I can't ruin somebody's life like this. They deserve to be in KMP"

The man laughed heartily. "Ms. Cray, I can _easily_ buy the whole KMP company. You can't even imagine the amount of money I currently have sitting in the bank to my disposal. So I suggest you do what I ask, unless you want to live on the streets with your father. I'm offering you a large sum of money. What more could you ask?"

I was about to respond, but he cut me off. "Wonderful. Now why don't you go back to your little party and get some sabotage going?"

Apparently, it wasn't a choice, because the stick-thin bodyguard pushed me out of the office before I could even sneer at Mr. Dare for his awful plan.

So, I headed back towards the auditorium.

* * *

**A/N: Wooah! Cliffhanger-ish! **

**Sorry that took SUPER long to come out. I've been really busy reading Neverseen (no spoilers you guys, I haven't finished it yet) and writing a bunch of other stuff. So, I hope you guys liked this chapter! **

**Tell me what you think of Jade, which was an unexpected OC who just popped up while I was writing this. **

**I will give you guys a preview of my new PJO story soon. Don't worry-it's coming. **

**Also, it may take a while for me to put the next chapter up, mostly because so many things are going on. But, hopefully my schedule will calm down and I will binge-write on this story! **

**Until then, Bie! **


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